Bek Air tried to cancel IOSA certificate requirement using lobbyists – Vice PM

AKIPRESS.COM - Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Roman Sklyar said Bek Air using lobbyists of different levels tried to cancel IATA Operational Safety Audit certificate to operate international flights, Tengrinews.kz reports. "All our air carriers who operate international transportation obtained IOSA certificate. It was necessary to obtain such certificate for domestic flights as well. However, in 2016 there was a powerful campaign in media. Some journalists and MPs supported it. Probably, they were right. There is no need to meet additional requirements for domestic routes. When the Civil Aviation Committee said IOSA certificate should be obtained for domestic routes, it was a kind of unnecessary measure. But we realize well there is nothing extra in aviation safety. Yet, the Committee for Natural Monopoly Regulation then said it is violation of rules of entrepreneurs and this requirement was canceled for domestic flights," Sklyar said following the government meeting.
"Bek Air tried to cancel IOSA certificate using lobbyists of different levels for all these years so that they would be able to operate international flights. But the Ministry of Industry disagreed despite all pressure," the Deputy Prime Minister added.
On December 27, the Bek Air plane en route from Almaty to Nur-Sultan lost altitude shortly after take-off and hit into a wall and 2-storey building near the runway.
The operation of the Bek Air was suspended after the plane crash.