In the spring of 1935, American Staff Sergeant John Cook undertook a “fact finding” tour of the Soviet Union on behalf of the U.S. Army Air Corps to evaluate the condition of the USSR’s civilian airline service. What Cook experienced was, in his own words, “exceedingly unpleasant.” Everywhere he flew he encountered overloaded, uncomfortable, and poorly maintained airplanes, run-down and dirty (though recently built) airports, constant delays, and shocking lapses of safety. The aerial tour led Cook to conclude that what the Soviet Union offered in terms of air travel “cannot compare with even the poorest of American airways.”

Although Sgt. Cook’s experiences may seem strikingly familiar to passengers who flew Aeroflot in the 1980s or early 1990s, the reality, of course, is that flying in Russia today is significantly more comfortable and reliable than in years past. Indeed, since the mid-1990s, Aeroflot, as well as regional carriers like Sibir and Trans Aero, have made progress in improving their passenger service and, more importantly, their safety records. Still, progress is relative. There is a great deal of work that remains to be done before Russian domestic aviation can begin to be considered on par with that in the USA or Western Europe.

The Russian Federation’s Transport Minister, Igor Levitin, acknowledged as much this past March (before the recent spate of deadly accidents) when he declared that as many as one half of the 5,000 civilian aircraft being used in Russia “are only good for spare parts.” Levitin went on to warn that the country’s continuing inability to improve its domestic aviation service has become a “threat to Russia’s security.”

Just over a week ago, on September 1st, the Transport Ministry appeared to take a step toward addressing Russia’s pressing civilian aviation needs when it announced plans to abolish duties currently levied upon equipment imported from abroad. The Ministry cited its desire to improve safety as the chief impetus for the abolition of the duties. That announcement came on the heels of a decision by Russia’s second-largest bank, VneshTorgBank, to invest nearly $1 billion in order to acquire a 5% stake in the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS).

Ironically, much of the improvement that has already taken place in Russian air transport over the past decade can be credited to upgrades in the civilian air fleet as Aeroflot and other carriers have replaced their obsolete, Soviet-era Tupolev and Antonov aircraft with new, or “newer,” Boeing and Airbus models. The trouble is, while reducing duties on future imports and creating partnerships with foreign firms may hasten the modernization of Russia’s air fleets, new planes alone will not resolve the systemic problems facing Russian aviation.

Russian air transport faces a number of daunting hurdles. One of the largest and most difficult to overcome is the overcrowded and poor conditions at airports across the county. Moscow’s principal international hub, state-owned Sheremetyevo airport, is but the most striking case in point. Despite being relatively new (its main Terminal 2 was built for the 1980 Moscow Olympics), Sheremetyevo is notoriously shabby. Its dark, dank, and disorganized interior and insanely long customs and check-in procedures recall the miseries inflicted upon travelers to the USSR in the 1970s and 80s. Fed up with the airport, British Air moved its Moscow hub to the smaller, privately-held Domodedovo airport in the summer of 2003. Other European carriers have such as Lufthansa and Alitalia have considered doing the same. After years of dithering, state officials finally responded in March of this year, granting Germany’s largest construction company, Hochtief, a $300 million dollar contract to upgrade Sheremetyevo-2. The reconstruction plans call for expanding the terminal to 240,000 square meters in order to accommodate a yearly capacity of 18 million passengers and creating a link to the airport’s future Terminal 3. The project is to be completed by 2007.

Meanwhile, work continues on a more comprehensive proposal to upgrade other sites in the country’s air network. One early draft has called for the construction of extra runways at twelve of Russia’s largest airports including Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, and Vnukovo (in Moscow) and Pulkovo (St. Petersburg), as well as airports in Krasnodar and Ekaterinburg. The Ministry has stated that the Russian Federation needs to invest, at a minimum, 25-30 billion rubles (approx. $1 billion) for the reconstruction of the country’s aviation infrastructure.

In reality, the amount needed to bring Russia’s aviation infrastructure into line with European and American standards is far, far higher. After all, if the state is prepared to budget $300 million just to upgrade and expand Sheremetyevo-2, the $1 billion figure cited for upgrades to other airports around the country is hardly realistic, even as a “minimum.”

Herein lies the biggest challenge facing Russian aviation: coming up with the vast amounts of money necessary to pay for all that needs to be done.

ScP