Ukraine's parliamentary members are calling on their German and
European Parliament counterparts to work together to settle a
long-standing problem regarding civil aviation between Ukraine and
Germany. In particular, the Ukrainian MPs want to establish joint
commissions between Ukraine's Parliament - Verkhovna Rada and the
European Parliament and Germany's Bundestag. The motion has been put
forward by Verkhovna Rada deputies from across Ukraine's political
spectrum.
MP Serhiy Chukmasov, First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada
Committee on Transportation and Telecommunications, points out that
the group of deputies took this step because, "the real solution to
the problem reasonably necessitates the establishment of these joint
commissions in order to assess the problem in a thorough and unbiased
manner."
Alexey Tolkachev, who heads the Civic Committee for National
Security Protection, points out that the committee brought the affair
to the attention of the Ukrainian lawmakers. The committee, a civil
watch-dog dedicated to bringing to light issues related to the defence
of Ukrainian industry's rights is calling for a broad approach from
Ukraine's officials, Mr. Tolkachev notes that the parliamentary
investigation is only one aspect of the contact that the Civic
Committee for National Security Protection is calling for.
"Simultaneously with the Ukrainian MP's inquiry with the European
Parliament, the government of Ukraine should appeal to the European
Commission and German government with requests to reevaluate the
aviation prohibitions placed on Ukraine... and the Cabinet of
Ministers should also appeal to Germany proposing to conduct
three-sided negotiations, with the participation of Ukrainian and
German government representatives and the EC." Mr. Tolkachev says that
there is a very "real danger of the monopolization of the Ukrainian
air transport market by powerful foreign air companies... if the
Ukrainian authorities don't protect the interests of Ukrainian
airlines."
By contrast, the German government has supported Lufthansa since
an October 2005 scheduling problem, when Lufthansa rejected
DniproAvia's confirmation of 5 of 6 Lufthansa-requested time slots.
The sixth request was shifted by a few hours in order to fit into
existing flights on the Dnipropetrovsk-Frankfurt am Main run.
The scheduling issue escalated in March 2006 when the German
Federal Department of Civil Aviation (hereafter - LBA) revoked
DniproAvia's landing rights first at Frankfurt and then throughout
Germany. The reasons given included Lufthansa's scheduling problems
and allegations that the airline had not been given a permit by the
Ukrainian authorities for flights in the Summer 2006 period, though
the information provided by Lufthansa to the LBA should show that the
Ukrainian government did indeed act in a timely manner.
At the same time, Lufthansa unilaterally decided to stop servicing
routes to Dnipropetrovsk. Thus the city has been without direct air
links to Germany's major cities for months.
MP Chukmasov, observes that, "Since the issue arose not merely
between two companies but also on the level of regulatory authorities,
it should be definitely settled on the state level; and parliamentary
control will accelerate progress in the further resolution of the
matter."
As this is not the first dispute between Lufthansa and a Ukrainian
carrier, high-level bilateral commissions will serve to shed light on
a practice that has literally severed ties between communities.
At the same time, leaving the problem as it is can lead to
dangerous consequences for Ukraine's commercial aviation sector. Mr.
Chukmasov notes that, "this danger may become a reality in case
Lufthansa and the LBA further ignore inter-governmental agreements and
internal provisions, and the Ukrainian authorities fail to take
protective measures."
