‘The Koltsovo airport of Yekaterinburg’s management’s decision to stop servicing Krasnoyarsk Airlines’ aircraft is actually in contradiction with the federal legislation on natural monopolies and protection of free competition. All the economic agents are supposed to settle their disputes in court without infringing on the consumers’ rights and interests. Otherwise, flights will inevitably be delayed, the passengers will be discriminated against, and the grave violations of the federal bill on consumer rights protection will be unavoidable,’ the region’s public prosecution authorities for transportation report.

Koltsovo airport announced it was going to stop rendering any ground handling services (including filling the plane with fuel and providing the crew and passengers with meals) to flights and passengers of Krasnoyarsk Airlines on September 15, 2008 due to the carrier’s failing to pay their ground handling bills.

‘In order to avoid the infringement of the passengers’ rights guaranteed by the Russian Federation Air Code and the federal bill on consumer rights protection and make sure people don’t have to place their complaints with the law-enforcement and monitoring authorities, we warned the airport’s top executive that these violations of the law were deemed unacceptable,’ the authorities explain.