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Kazakhstan has tightened its rules for domestic commercial air traffic, the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the country said.
According to the report, these rules were developed in 2012 in connection with the liberalization of the internal aviation traffic and abolition of competition for allocation of domestic air routes to ensure the safety and quality of passenger service.
"Thus, airlines will be allowed to operate flights on domestic air routes only if they meet eligibility requirements," according to the statement.
The main focus in development of the document was on safety issues.
"Thus, under the rules for the admission of airlines to operating regular domestic commercial air traffic, the airlines must conform their activities and obtain a certificate of Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) of the International Air Transport Association", the report says.
The requirement for IOSA will take effect in 2015.
Also, according to the report, the airline that intends to transport passengers and luggage on a domestic route must have experience in implementation of non-scheduled operations or operation of local (intraregional) air passenger traffic within at least a year, Kazinform refers to trend.az.
According to the report, in line with international practice, the rules provide that the airline should have an aircraft fleet with a valid certificate of airworthiness of at least three aircrafts of the same passenger capacity. This requirement was introduced so that the airline operating the scheduled domestic flight could ensure the timely transfer of passengers. Planes may either be owned by the airline, or rented for a minimum of three years.
For passengers' convenience, airlines must also have offices and personnel in every airport, where it plans to operate regional (domestic) passenger traffic. In addition, airlines wishing to operate flights on domestic air routes, must have certified personnel involved in bookings and ticket sales.
According to the report, all of these requirements are mandatory and will enter into force 21 days after the first official publication of the Government Decree of Kazakhstan regarding these rules.