russian airlines will face significant problems due to disconnection from the international SITA system
The SITA channel, or "aviation SWIFT," is the most widely used tool in the global civil aviation industry for exchanging information
russian and foreign airlines operating flights between russia and other countries may have difficulty organizing flights in the fall of 2023 due to russia's disconnection from the Swiss company SITA.
Source. RBC reports this with reference to sources in airlines.
The SITA channel, or "aviation SWIFT", is the most common tool in global civil aviation for the exchange of information, in particular between airlines and airports. It has more than 2,500 customers in 200 countries. The company began to shut down operations in russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
"Due to the shutdown, scheduled for the end of September, russian carriers will no longer be able to transmit data on flights, passengers and baggage to international airport information systems through SITA gateways," one of the sources told RBC. Foreign carriers will be left without a SITA channel to exchange data with the information systems of russian airports.
The russian Ministry of Transport responded to RBC's request by saying that it was aware of the problem and would ensure the exchange of information between Russian and international networks through alternative communication channels.
The aviation expert notes that the shutdown of this system will primarily affect combined flights with a stopover, where flights from russia are operated by russian airlines, and after the stopover – by foreign airlines.
"Theoretically, it is possible to temporarily do without this system by using regular e-mail or fax. But, as practice shows, this can lead to at least an increase in the time required to process information and errors with the corresponding consequences in the form of confusion with confirmation of payment/seat reservation," the expert says.
"They are now trying to develop and launch a russian analog of this SITA service on an emergency basis, but it's not just the lack of ready-made russian software. First of all, countries that are ready to allow russian airlines to enter their airspace must agree to use this system," he said.
Background. In early June, it became known that the largest provider of IT services for aviation was leaving russia.
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