INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russian aviation authorities are preventing jobless pilots from finding work with foreign airlines, the Kommersant business daily
flights were grounded due to the risk of aircraft seizures in line with Western sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.The Federal
Air Transportation Agency (Rosaviatsia) declines to verify Russian pilots' licenses as part of standard procedure when receiving requests
from foreign counterparts, according to Kommersant.Rosaviatsia either ignores the validation requests altogether or cites privacy concerns
in its rejection, the publication cited one source as saying.Russian flight crew union president Miroslav Boichuk said Rosaviatsia responded
to around 600 requests from foreign aviation authorities between late February and mid-June.But only around 100 Russian pilots have so far
and Cambodia.Russia's 2030 aviation industry strategy notes that the Transportation Ministry receives around 70 verification requests from
abroad every month."This points to a high risk of pilot shortage to support future air traffic," the strategy is quoted as saying.Around 300
adds.According to Kommersant's sources, the practice of ignoring foreign validation requests dates back to 2016.This year, they link that
practice to President Vladimir Putin's orders to maintain air traffic at 100 million passengers by the end of 2022.Russia's aviation
sector is among the industries hardest by Western sanctions over Ukraine due to halted deliveries of new foreign jets and spare parts, as
($14.4 billion) to increase the share of domestically manufactured aircraft to 81% by 2030.
