MOSCOW. Aug 6 (Interfax-AVN) - Failure to comply with international noise requirements may soon become a serious obstacle for Russian planes flying to Europe and other nations, Yevgeny Shaposhnikov, aide to the Russian president for aviation and cosmonautics, said on Wednesday.
"We will soon see a time when we will be forced to fly around Europe, just like high-tonnage automobiles are bypassing the Russian capital using the Moscow ring-road," Shaposhnikov told Interfax-Military News Agency when asked to comment on the round-table discussion entitled "Aircraft Engine Building as Basis of National Economy Development." The discussion has just ended in Moscow.
Shaposhnikov lashed out at officials who try to secure some exemptions or deadline prolongations for Russian planes instead of working to improve the engines' specifications and adjust them to new ICAO requirements.
"I sometimes feel ashamed for our government officials who visit European countries and start asking for delays or try to find some other airfields that will accept our planes which are not too below noise standards," he said.
According to Shaposhnikov, funds can be raised to adjust the operational engines to ICAO noise requirements.
"If we calculate the money that the aviation raises and transfers to the state as taxes, the figure will be ten times higher than what the state allocates for aircraft engine building through budget financing," he said.