Travel Notes

Despite aging fleets and a shortage of pilot flying time, Russian airlines boast one of the world’s best safety records on passenger flights, Russia Journal reported.

Twenty years ago, there were 700-900 deaths a year on Russian passenger flights. In 1999 there were 43. Total passengers carried also declined during this period: from 140 mn to 20 mn passengers a year.

Alexei Mayorov, safety inspection chief at Transaero airlines told Russia Journal that, on regular flights, Russia’s safety record is twice as good as the world average. Mayorov said that pilot-training and strict safety requirements inherited from Soviet times have helped to keep safety standards high. State aviation officials also attribute the improvement in passenger safety to increased government regulation in the licensing of airlines.