Austria says Pobeda's Vienna Fly&Bus service illegal

The Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT) has raised a complaint with Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) over Pobeda's sale of Moscow Vnukovo-Vienna "flights", Ch-aviation.com reported.

Minutes of a bilateral meeting between the two countries in July show the BMVIT expressed its concern over the move given that Pobeda (DP, Moscow Vnukovo) is not a designated carrier and is therefore not entitled to traffic rights under Austria's bilateral air services agreement (BASA) with Russia.

Though the Russian LCC does not serve Vienna per se, it offers the city as a destination as part of its Fly&Bus package flights. In this instance, flights from Moscow Vnukovo arrive in Bratislava where passengers are then required to board a bus to Vienna Hauptbahnhof (Central Station), located 80 kilometres away.

"The Austrian delegation requested the Russian delegation to take steps to stop such operations which are not in compliance with the bilateral framework," the minutes said.

A similar service to Zurich is in place wherein passengers access the Swiss commercial hub after a bus ride from the German airport of Memmingen.