Tens of thousands of passengers were stranded Tuesday as Russian airline VIM-AVIA said it could no longer operate without state help but the government said it was not planning to prop up the carrier. VIM-AVIA, Russia's 10th largest carrier, said it was planning to go into receivership due to financial hardship and called for state support as tour operators urged the authorities to help avert an industry-wide crisis.
But Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov said on Tuesday propping up the failing carrier was not economically sound. "State support does not make sense any longer because this company has practically stopped its operations," he said. The private company has cancelled dozens of flights over the last few days, including all its charter flights.
Some 43,000 passengers had flown out with the carrier to Turkey, Greece, Italy and Spain and are now believed to be stranded abroad, said Turpomoshch (Tourist Help), an association of tour operators. Overall, some 200,000 passengers were expected to be affected and the Russian authorities were putting together a plan to bring travellers home. "Our task right now is to transport passengers who have VIM-AVIA tickets on their hands," transport ministry spokesman Timur Khikmatov told AFP. Earlier in the day VIM-AVIA said it was in a dire economic situation. "Working capital has dried up, financing has been frozen and airport services have been suspended," the carrier said in a statement.