Airline to pay compensation

Press, 4 January 1988, Page 9

Airline to pay compensation

NZPA-Reuter Moscow The Soviet airline Aeroflot will pay compensation to passengers stranded at airports in cases where the airline is to blame, the daily newspaper “Sovietskaya Rossiya” has reported. The newspaper published an announcement by the Civil Aviation Ministry, which said that from February 1 passengers who found their flights overbooked or were unable to fly for some other technical reason would receive compensation. It was not clear how much money they would receive. But the announcement contained a scale for compensation to be paid in the event of flight delays, reaching 25 cent of the of

the ticket after six hours. The Ministry also said that a rule requiring passengers to present their passports when buying internal air tickets would be waived. A “Pravda” article complained of highhanded management and persistent corruption at Aeroflot and accused it of ignoring criticism. It said the number of accidents remained unacceptably high, while indiscipline and drunkenness among staff had increased. The Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr Volkov, appointed last May to clean up Aeroflot, was quoted by the daily newspaper “Izvestia” as saying that only half the demand for seats on domestic flights could be satisfied.