VIM Airlines' first flight from Liège on 17 April 2017

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Re: VIM Airlines' first flight from Liège on 17 April 2017

Post by Ozzie1969 »

VIM Airlines? They must have very clean aircraft.

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Re: VIM Airlines' first flight from Liège on 17 April 2017

Post by sn26567 »

sn26567 wrote: 06 Jun 2017, 16:14 VIM Airlines (Russia) cancelled all its charter flights until 15 June 2017 over the late arrival of three planes from scheduled maintenance. Not sure the Liège-China flights are affected.
VIM Airlines is prolonging the partial reduction of its charter program due to a surge in passenger traffic on scheduled flights to leisure destinations and capacity shortages. Schedule will stabilise within the next two weeks.

Again, Liège-China scheduled flights should not be affected.
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Re: VIM Airlines' first flight from Liège on 17 April 2017

Post by sn26567 »

VIM Airlines joined IATA after recently having its IOSA standard renewed.
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Re: VIM Airlines' first flight from Liège on 17 April 2017

Post by sn26567 »

VIM Airlines took delivery of a second B777-300ER, serial 29067, for service out of Moscow Domodedovo. Could we see this aircraft in LGG soon?
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Re: VIM Airlines' first flight from Liège on 17 April 2017

Post by SR20 »

Not very good !
Chinese passengers stranded at Liege Airport last night.

https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/vim-a ... eivership/

https://www.rtbf.be/info/regions/detail ... id=9719342

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Re: VIM Airlines' first flight from Liège on 17 April 2017

Post by luchtzak »

FredATC wrote: 26 Sep 2017, 08:09 Not very good !
Chinese passengers stranded at Liege Airport last night.

https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/vim-a ... eivership/

https://www.rtbf.be/info/regions/detail ... id=9719342
Back in February Aviation24.be already wrote an article about the financial woes of VIM Airlines, but was forced to write a right of reply as VIM Airlines public relations director Elena Fedorova completely disagreed with our views on the financial situation of the airline.

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Re: VIM Airlines' first flight from Liège on 17 April 2017

Post by Passenger »

A VIM Airlines Boeing 777-300 reg. VP-BSF landed in LGG Liège on Monday evening (21h21 local time).
Routing was:
NN-816 XIY-DME Xi'an-Moscow DME
NN-867 DME-LGG Moscow-Liège

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/airc ... sf#efe498f
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/vp-bsf

Both Flightradar24.com and Planefinder.net show no outgoing flight for this 777.


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Re: VIM Airlines' first flight from Liège on 17 April 2017

Post by SLM »

Hurry up Air Belgium!

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Re: VIM Airlines' first flight from Liège on 17 April 2017

Post by nordikcam »

SLM wrote: 26 Sep 2017, 15:16 Hurry up Air Belgium!
But where are they, we no longer hear about this project!

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Re: VIM Airlines' first flight from Liège on 17 April 2017

Post by sn26567 »

nordikcam wrote: 26 Sep 2017, 15:59
SLM wrote: 26 Sep 2017, 15:16 Hurry up Air Belgium!
But where are they, we no longer hear about this project!
The CEO says "Patience! Launching a long-haul airline takes time".
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Re: VIM Airlines' first flight from Liège on 17 April 2017

Post by sn26567 »

Russian tour operators ask government for help in VIM-Avia crisis

The Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) has asked the government to interfere and help solve the situation with insolvency of troubled airline VIM-Avia, whose debt exceeds 500 million rubles.

The airline has been delaying a massive amount of its flights since mid-summer, and on Monday it admitted it had no money to continue flights and it would have to stop charter flights. The Investigative Committee launched a criminal case against the airline charging its managers with stealing money of passengers. The Prosecutor General’s Office launched an inspection of the airline previously.

ATOR said that preliminary estimates show that VIM-Avia had undertaken obligations to carry 200,000 passengers until the end of the summer season, including 100,000 Russian tourists. “Suspension of activity of the airline will stop these flights, which will lead to collapse of the touristic and aviation markets and will in turn inflict significant reputational damage on the government and companies of the touristic market and end up in widespread discontent among citizens,” the statement said.

Deputy Transport Minister Valery Okulov told reporters that speaking about air operator certificate revocation is too early.

It is definitely too early to speak about (revocation of the air operator certificate), as the agency has only just started an unscheduled inspection…They expect to receive results very fast, right now they expect them in a week. So far they plan to receive some results at the beginning of the next week,” Okulov said.

The figures (of the debt) are floating. Initially, they had about 500 million rubles of debts to the Domodedovo airport, now the figures are different. Our major goal is to understand the scale of the problem. They have not requested any amount (of state guarantees), it is currently being negotiated, we have not received an official request yet.”

The association said that tour operators will be unable to return so many tourists to Russia, as they have already paid for all VIM-Avia’s charter programs and cannot find at least U.S. $10 million more to pay for the flights for a second time.

ATOR sent a letter to Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko asking the government to interfere in the situation in order to avoid a crisis on the touristic market. The association is also ready to help to work out measures to prevent these situations in the future.

The Federal Tourism Agency said in a statement that it had set up an emergency operation centre for bringing clients of VIM-Avia back to Russia. But the agency will be unable to use the money of the tourist support association Tourpomoshch created to help people if tour operators fail to fulfil their liabilities, as only the airline is responsible for the current situation.

Head of the agency Oleg Safonov told PRIME that VIM-Avia’s charter flights suspension hurt many tour operators, including Intourist, TUI, Mouzenidis Travel, Coral Travel, and others. The agency plans to calculate the exact figure on the affected tourists later on Monday.

It is unclear how the authorities plan to bring Russian tourists back home, he added.

He also said that the stranded tourists will be brought back home in two days, when the flight schedule of carriers that are ready to transport the passengers of the troubled airline are adjusted. There will be no collapse of the tourism market, as the Transport Ministry, the Federal Air Transport Agency, and the Federal Tourism Agency are all working on bringing back the tourists.

Vnukovo International Airport said in a statement citing Board of Directors Chairman Vitaly Vantsev that VIM-Avia will use the Vnukovo airport instead of the base airport of Domodedovo until all passengers have been transported.

Source: Russian Aviation
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Re: VIM Airlines' first flight from Liège on 17 April 2017

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More than 2,000 VIM-Avia passengers are stuck in foreign airports

More than 30 flights of the VIM-Avia airline company have been cancelled. More than 2,000 passengers from Russia have found themselves stranded at foreign airports, an airline source told TASS on Tuesday.

"On early Tuesday, the VIM-Avia airline company cancelled more than 20 regular flights and 10 charter flights from three Russian cities and six foreign countries: Bulgaria, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Cyprus," the source said.

More than 2,000 people from Russia are staying at foreign airports, he said.

About 360 tourists from China are staying in Belgium’s Liege due to the cancellation of VIM-Avia’s flight to Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province. The airport’s press service confirmed this information on Tuesday when asked by a TASS reporter.

"Due to very late flight cancellation, over 360 people could not set out on Monday. We tried to place them in hotels, but managed to find place for only about 180 people. The others had to spend the night at the airport," the press service reported.

It also noted that transportation of these people home by alternative flights was being discussed.

It emerged on Monday that the Federal Air Transport Agency initiated unscheduled examination of the VIM-Avia air company. According to the agency, substantial delays in the flights were linked to the company’s debts to fueling companies. Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov stated that the situation with VIM-Avia flight delays was controlled by the Russian Transport Ministry.

The ministry also reported that the air company’s potential financial risks when carrying passengers would be assessed before the end of this year.

Head of Russia’s Federal Agency for Tourism Oleg Safonov told TASS the withdrawal of Russia’s air carrier Vim-Avia from the charter flights market will not crush the country’s tourism sector.

"No collapse of Russia’s tourism market is expected due to the suspension of Vim-Avia’s charter program. The Transport Ministry of the Russian Federation, the Federal Air Transport Agency and the Federal Agency for Tourism are engaged is organizing the return of Russian tourists, the clients of this air carrier, back home," he said.

The airline company obliged to transport more than 200,000 passengers before the end of this year.

This is the second surge of massive delays in the company’s flights. In May 2017, the carrier started mass flight delays at various airports. The company explained it by late arrivals of the aircraft. In order to stabilize the situation, the airline company partially reduced its charter program for the summer period, having cancelled 13 routes. Other carriers also helped to overcome the delays.

Source: Russian Aviation
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Re: VIM Airlines' first flight from Liège on 17 April 2017

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Investigators inspect delays of flights of VIM-Avia

The Moscow transport investigation department of the Russian Investigative Committee has launched a pre-investigation check of flight delays of airline VIM-Avia from Domodedovo International Airport on request by the head of the committee Alexander Bastrykin.

The company has been delaying the majority of its flights since mid-summer, and the Transport Ministry and the Federal Air Transport Agency had to interfere. The airline explained the delays by a late arrival of planes from technical maintenance.

The committee said that VIM-Avia delayed 15 domestic and international flights scheduled for September 22 and September 23, and even sold tickets to the flights being well aware it would be unable to carry out the flights.

The transport department of the Volga Region’s Prosecutor’s office also said in a statement that VIM-Avia’s wage arrears exceed 206 million rubles, and the authority launched several administrative cases against the airline.

According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, the airline delayed its scheduled and charter flights because of fuel debts to the Domodedovo airport. The ministry and the service had to schedule a meeting of the anti-crisis committee to discuss the situation, and the ministry ordered the agency to choose agent airlines that will carry out VIM-Avia’s flights if the airline has to suspend its activity.

A representative of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia told PRIME that the airline partially redeemed its debt to the airport on September 23, while an airport representative confirmed that the airline had launched some of its delayed flights. VIM-Avia itself said in a statement that it was developing a plan of settling the situation with authorities, and finished negotiations with financial organizations that agreed to support the company.

The Transport Ministry said in a statement that the agency may limit the booking pattern of the airline if necessary.

More than two years ago, the then second largest airline Transaero suffered similar problems. It failed to service about 250 billion rubles of debts, and its air operator certificate was recalled. On September 13, 2017, the Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region declared Transaero bankrupt.

Source: Russian Aviation
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Re: VIM Airlines' first flight from Liège on 17 April 2017

Post by SR20 »

FredATC wrote: 17 Apr 2017, 21:15 Probably not the most suitable picture to illustrate the come back of chinese charters at Liege Airport 😜
Well done RTBF !
Let's just hope it's not premonitory !
FB_IMG_1492455939059.jpg
RTBF was visionary unfortunately !
https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/vim-a ... -from-now/

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Re: VIM Airlines' first flight from Liège on 17 April 2017

Post by luchtzak »

The AOC of the airline might get suspended in two weeks time.

https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/vim-a ... -from-now/

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Re: VIM Airlines' first flight from Liège on 17 April 2017

Post by luchtzak »

VP-BSF is still blocked at Liège Airport, https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/vp-bsf

Tonight's flight has been cancelled, according to FR24

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Re: VIM Airlines' first flight from Liège on 17 April 2017

Post by sn26567 »

VIM Airlines to cancel all flights after 15 October 2017, and risks losing its AOC. The government agreed with airports and fueling companies on the maintenance of all VIM flights, with the Moscow Domodedovo owners deciding to release five VIM aircraft, which were previously held by the airport over debts.

VIM Airlines to face application with the Arbitration Court of Tatarstan on bankruptcy proceedings for US$1.5 million, filed against the carrier by Deposit Insurance Agency (Russia).

VIM Airlines to reportedly receive US$8.6 million from the State in return for VAT for 3Q 2017.
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Re: VIM Airlines' first flight from Liège on 17 April 2017

Post by luchtzak »

VIM Airlines CEO and chief accountant taken into custody; co-owners have fled the country.

https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/vim-a ... e-country/

Nice ...

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Re: VIM Airlines' first flight from Liège on 17 April 2017

Post by ezis_bis »

luchtzak wrote: 28 Sep 2017, 15:58 co-owners have fled the country.
To be honest, I'd probably do the same

Ending up in jail in Russia doesn't necessarily mean you committed a crime

The rule of law has a different meaning in Russia compared to here in Europe.

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