Russian Federal Air Transport Agency demands Egypt's AlMasria minimize flight delays

MOSCOW. June 17 (Interfax) - Egyptian charter carrier AlMasria Universal Airlines must ensure the regularity of its flights to Russia by August 1, otherwise it will be denied a charter program in the upcoming winter schedule, the Federal Air Transport Agency said.

This condition was set by the head of the agency, Dmitry Yadrov, during a meeting with AlMasria CEO Sherine Farid.

"Almost every second flight operated by the airline is delayed. Such an attitude towards passengers is unacceptable. It is necessary to fundamentally and quickly change your approaches to operational planning," Yadrov was quoted as saying by the agency's press service.

The regularity of AlMasria's flights will be restored within two weeks, and a report on the results will be submitted to the agency, Farid said.

According to the agency, between June 1 and June 14, AlMasria operated 213 flights to Russia, of which 86 (more than 40% of the total) were delayed by more than two hours. The longest delay exceeded 37 hours.