A lawsuit has been filed against the Aerosvit airline company at the Kiev Economic Court in a bid to recover a debt of UAH 2 million to the Ministry of Industrial Policy and the Antonov state enterprise for international transport services performed by aircraft belonging to the latter in 2011, the press service of the central regional military prosecutor’s office has announced.
The press service also said that Ukraine International Airlines agreed to pay Antonov for air transport services during court proceedings. The total debt was UAH 18.7 million, and it has already been paid.
As reported, the An-148 airplanes are owned by Antonov Airlines, which is controlled by the Antonov state enterprise. After coming into service (the first aircraft came into service in 2009), the An-148 airplanes were initially operated by Aerosvit and later by Ukraine International Airlines. The airline companies operated the airplanes on a wet lease, i.e. they only organized flights but the owner of the airplanes provided the crews was also responsible for technical maintenance of the airplanes.
Ukraine International Airlines currently operates the three An-148 airplanes, but two of them will soon be transferred to the state-owned Ukraina airline company, which transports the country’s top officials, and Antonov will continue to manage one for demonstrative purposes.
