MINSK, 2 November (BelTA) – The Belarusian air carrier Belavia has reached a settlement with Ukraine over the incident with the forced return of its aircraft to Zhulyany Airport, Belavia Director General Anatoly Gusarov told reporters on 7 February, BelTA has learned.
“We have reached the settlement to the mutual benefit of the two sides. The problem has been resolved. We agreed on the compensation mechanism compliant with the legislation of Ukraine and Belarus. As for the amount that we asked from the Ukrainian side, we agreed on the option of compensation. We are fully satisfied,” Anatoly Gusarov said.
Anatoly Gusarov explained that the conflict was resolved through the Service Level Agreement with UkSATSE. “We have reached the settlement under this agreement,” he said.
At the end of January, Ukrainian State Air Traffic Services Enterprise UkSATSE and Belavia signed the Service Level Agreement to improve the use of the airspace which is under the responsibility of Ukraine. “Closer coordination in the cooperation between UkSATSE and Belavia suggests making joint decisions in the development of the network of routes, the application of the best suitable flight trajectories for the airline taking into account the ICAO requirements and the Ukrainian legislation. This will also promote mutual exchange of information important for flight operation. The parties intend to develop cooperation to increase the number of regular and charter flights by Belavia in the Ukrainian airspace,” reads a message available on the UkSATSE website.
BelTA reported earlier that on 21 October 2016, Belavia Boeing 737-800, carrying out flight V2-840 from Zhulyany (Kiev) to Minsk, was forced to return to the departure airport. There were 136 passengers and six crew members on board. The plane took off from Zhulyany Airport at 15.25. At 15.36, when the plane was a mere 50 kilometers from the Belarusian border, the aircraft's pilot received an order from a traffic controller from the Kiev District division of UkSATSE, to immediately head back, with no further explanation. Upon landing, one of the passengers, an Armenian citizen, was taken off the flight by Ukrainian law enforcement. After the refueling the plane took off and landed at Minsk National Airport at 17.33. The passenger who was taken off the flight was later released and left Kiev for Minsk at 19.00.
