Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) has uplifted an embargo placed on Saratov Airlines (Saratov Tsentralny) last year forbidding the carrier from operating internationally.

The agency said in a communique that the upliftment was effective April 29. Saratov Airlines, in turn, announced that it had already opened talks with Russian tour operators over the start of flights to Greece and Bulgaria.

Rosaviatsia revoked the Southern Russian carrier's international flight status in October last year after a surprise inspection uncovered violations of Russian Federal Aviation Regulations concerning the presence of persons other than flight crew in the cockpit during operations.

The airline subsequently reprimanded several employees, including general director Igor Tretyakov, while enforcing various policy changes.

Prior to the suspension, Saratov Airlines offered regular passenger flights to Gyoumri in Armenia, Lenkoran and Gabala in Azerbaijan, Kyiv Igor Sikorsky in Ukraine, and Tivat in Montenegro.