拒绝让航班绕飞俄领空，印度航空CEO：风就是这么吹的
据英国《每日电讯报》28日报道，在采访时被问到为何仍让飞往英国和美国的客机飞越俄罗斯领空时，印度航空公司首席执行官（CEO）坎贝尔•威尔逊（Campbell Wilson）回答说：“如果风就是这样吹的，这样最经济划算。”
这家英国媒体指出，为此印度航空要向俄罗斯支付价值几百万英镑的航班过路费。在新冠疫情暴发前，每年俄罗斯收到的此类收入高达17亿美元。
对此，威尔逊在采访时说:“你们（英国）在购买天然气。你们在购买石油。肯辛顿和其他地方得到了多少俄罗斯侨民的投资？这种想法是，如果A国和B国发生冲突，A国就要求C国必须去做到X、Y和Z，我认为这是一种我们都需要小心对待的先例。”
坎贝尔•威尔逊 图源：彭博社
而在谈到俄乌冲突时，威尔逊说道：“我绝对不会允许、纵容或支持这场冲突，但航空业可能是世界和平与相互联系的最大推动者，因为它能把人们聚集在一起，使文化互相融合，并减少了人类自然形成的‘我们’与‘他们’的这种对立。如果对此加以限制，那是消极的还是积极的？我认为显然是消极的。”
威尔逊继续说道:“假如我们阻挠某些航空公司飞越某些地方，并不一定会阻止人口的流动。只是改变了他们的途径。而且那是在竞争中试图让情况对自己有利的做法。那么做正确吗？如此一来你就会得到不正当的结果。会得到更多迂回的飞行路线，因此（碳）排放也会更多，机票价格也会上涨，会让航空公司（的价格）被人为抬高或压低。”
《每日电讯报》提到，作为一家印度的主要航空公司，印度航空的投资方是塔塔集团和新加坡航空公司。该公司目前正准备进行大规模扩张，与英国航空和阿联酋航空等公司展开竞争。不久前，印度航空宣布签署了一份巨额采购合同，计划从波音和空客购买470架飞机，以扩充其机队。
Air India chief defends giving Russia millions as overflight charges
https://www.easterneye.biz/air-india-chief-defends-giving-russia-millions-as-overflight-charges/
Russia generated £1.3 billion from overflight charges each year before Covid
By: Pramod Thomas 29 March, 2023
FILE PHOTO: Air India Chief Executive Officer Campbell Wilson speaks during a news conference in Gurugram, India, February 28, 2023. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo
IR INDIA chief Campbell Wilson has defended paying Kremlin millions as overflight charges to keep flying over Russia, the Telegraph reported.
He added that the airline was open to flying over Russia to UK and US destinations as it was ‘economical’.
Prior to the pandemic, Russia generated £1.3 billion from overflight charges each year.
Wilson also compared Air India’s decision to continue flying over Russia with the UK’s purchase of Russian fossil fuels.
“The UK are buying gas. You guys are buying oil. How much investment from the Russian diaspora do you have in Kensington and other places? The whole principle of if Country A and Country B are having a conflict, and then Country A insists country C has to do X, Y and Z. That’s a precedent that I think we all need to be careful of,” Wilson told the Telegraph.
“I absolutely don’t sanction or condone or support the conflict. But aviation is probably the biggest enabler of global peace and connectivity because it brings people together, makes cultures mix, and reduces just the natural us versus them nature of humanity. And if we constrain that, is that a negative or positive? I think it’s a clear negative.”
The UK has banned imports of Russian oil and gas, and the country also introduced new legislation which requires foreign companies holding UK property to identify their beneficial owners in a public register.
Air India is funded by a joint venture between Tata, the owner of Jaguar Land Rover and Tata Steel, and Singapore Airlines.
Britain is Air India’s second-biggest international market after North America.
Following the Ukraine war, most western airlines have halted flying over Russia, Belarus and Ukraine over safety fears and financial sanctions that prevent funding the war against Ukraine.
According to Wilson, ban on certain carriers from overflying certain places, will not stop people moving.
“It just changes where they’re moving through. And that is putting a thumb on the scale of competition. And is that the right thing to do? Because then you are going to get perverse outcomes,” he told the newspaper.
“You’re going to get more circuitous routings and therefore more emissions. You’re getting higher prices. You’re going to get carriers [prices] artificially inflated, you’re going to get carriers artificially deflated.”
Air India chief defends paying Kremlin millions to keep flying over Russia
Aviation boss says enforcing overflight bans would disrupt industry competition
Air India has defended paying the Kremlin millions to fly over Russian airspace as it prepares to ramp up its UK operations.
Despite the Kremlin's war on Ukraine, Campbell Wilson, chief executive, said Air India was open to flying over Russia to UK and US destinations “if that’s the way the winds are blowing and it is most economical”.
Doing so could lead to millions of pounds being handed to the Kremlin in so-called overflight charges. Prior to the pandemic, Russia generated $1.7bn (£1.3bn) from overflight charges each year.
Mr Wilson told the Telegraph: “You guys [the UK] are buying gas. You guys are buying oil. How much investment from the Russian diaspora do you have in Kensington and other places?
“The whole principle of if Country A and Country B are having a conflict, and then Country A insists country C has to do X, Y and Z. That’s a precedent that I think we all need to be careful of.”
The UK has banned imports of Russian oil and gas. Ministers have also introduced new legislation in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which requires foreign companies holding UK property to identify their beneficial owners in a public register.
Mr Wilson added: “I absolutely don't sanction or condone or support the conflict. But aviation is probably the biggest enabler of global peace and connectivity because it brings people together, makes cultures mix, and reduces just the natural us versus them nature of humanity.
“And if we constrain that, is that a negative or positive? I think it's a clear negative.”
It comes as Air India prepares a major expansion to rival the likes of British Airways and Emirates.
The company, which is India's flag carrier, is funded by a joint venture between Tata, the owner of Jaguar Land Rover and Tata Steel, and Singapore Airlines.
The airline has already announced one of the largest aircraft orders in history, with plans to buy 470 planes from Boeing and Airbus to revitalise its fleet.
Britain is Air India’s second-biggest international market after North America. Mr Wilson said Air India would begin flying from Gatwick as well as Heathrow.
Most Western airlines have halted flying over Russia, Belarus and Ukraine over safety fears and financial sanctions that prevent funding the war against Ukraine.
Sir Richard Branson last November backed a ban for Chinese airlines that arrive in Britain after travelling over Russian airspace.
Chinese commercial carriers have not been landing in the UK until recently because of Beijing’s zero-Covid policy.
Like China, India has maintained diplomatic relations with Moscow despite international outcry against Mr Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Mr Wilson added: “If we prevent certain carriers from overflying certain places, it doesn't necessarily stop people moving. It just changes where they're moving through. And that is putting a thumb on the scale of competition. And is that the right thing to do? Because then you are going to get perverse outcomes.
“You're going to get more circuitous routings and therefore more emissions. You're getting higher prices. You're going to get carriers [prices] artificially inflated, you're going to get carriers artificially deflated.”
