From 4 June Aeroflot will have the right to refuse to transport disruptive passengers

Aeroflot will have the right to refuse to transport disruptive passengers from 4th June.

On 4 June 2018, amendments to the Russian Aviation Code of the signed by President Vladimir Putin on 5 December 2017 come into force. The amendments give airlines the right to blacklist unruly passengers and refuse to carry them. Grounds for refusal to transport disruptive passengers and blacklist them with a subsequent ban from all flights for a year are:

— failure to follow orders of an aircraft captain (Paragraph 6 Article 11.17 of the Russian Administrative Code);

— hooliganism on board (Article 213 of the Russian Criminal Code);

— actions that threaten safety of aircraft operation (Article 267.1 of the Russian Criminal Code).

The measures proposed by Aeroflot bring Russian legislation in line with the global best practice in preventing and counteracting disruptive behaviour on aircraft. Flight safety is a top priority for Aeroflot.

“We welcome the enforcement of the amendments to the law that Aeroflot has long been actively lobbying for. Supported by the Russian President we have created a new legal mechanism which will allow airlines to prevent and counteract all kinds of disruptive behaviour regardless of a passenger’s social status. The right to blacklist unruly passengers and refuse them transportation will allow us to reduce the number of incidents onboard and assert the right of our passengers to a safe and comfort flight”,

said Vladimir Alexandrov, Aeroflot’s Deputy CEO for Legal and Property Matters.