CSA Czech Airlines (Prague Václav Havel) and Aeroflot (SU, Moscow Sheremetyevo) will see increased competition on their Prague Václav Havel to Moscow flights with effect from Summer 2015 after the Czech Republic and Russia agreed to designate secondary carriers for the route.
Following successful talks between the Czech civil aviation authority (Úřad pro Civilní Letectví - UCL) and Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia), the two regulatory authorities signed a wide-reaching Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in September which broadened commercial carrier access to each other's airspace.
According to documents seen by ch-aviation, under the MoU, one more carrier from each side will be given permission to operate seven weekly flights on the Prague - Moscow route. Transaero Airlines (Moscow Vnukovo) and S7 Airlines (S7, Novosibirsk) have already expressed a keen interest on the Russian side.
Other aspects of the agreement include possible 5th Freedom rights for Russian passenger and cargo carriers operating to North America via the Czech Republic. In return CSA has been granted access to Kazan International, Voronezh Chertovitskoye, and Volgograd.
