The First National Congress of Russian Aviation Lawyers was timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the first Russian Assembly of Aeronauts and took place in Moscow on 26th April 2011 with support from the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviation). Andrey Porfiriev, Senior Lawyer at EPAM, spoke at the congress.

Invitations to join the Congress was sent out to leading experts in the aviation law, representatives of airlines, airports, industry associations, law firms, insurance companies, banks and all those interested in developing the level of legal culture in this sector.

The Congress comprised the following sessions:

• Role of lawyers in implementing government policy in aviation and servicing operations of the Russian air transport complex’ entities;
• Air law and prospects of its improvement;
• Legal aspects in introducing the norms, standards and recommended practices of the International Civil Aviation Organization;
• Legal issues in aviation security and flight safety.

Andrey Porfiriev, Senior Lawyer at EPAM, spoke on “Airline bankruptcy: could it be avoided?” He told about what has to be done with Russian legislation and the functioning of public authorities to prevent massive flight delays and sudden flight cancellations due to airlines’ financial insecurity caused by the economic crisis.