Maksim covers aerospace developments in Central Asia for Aviation Week. He has worked for Russia's Air Transport Observer magazine and was in charge of several ATO sister aerospace publications after working for the Moscow-based CAST defense think tank.
Maksim has a degree in international relations from MGIMO University, Moscow.
MOSCOW — The long-delayed retrofitting of the Kiev-class Vikramaditya aircraft carrier (formerly the Russian Admiral Gorshkov) finally seems to be over. The ship “will leave our waters and head for India on November 30,” Russian Vice Premier Dmitry Rogozin promised Oct. 14. The handover ceremony will take place in Severodvinsk—where Vikramaditya was retrofitted—on Nov. 16 during the visit of Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony.
Russia’s largest airline Aeroflot yesterday unveiled a new low-cost subsidiary, Dobrolet. Named after the first Soviet commercial air transport organization that later served as the foundation for Aeroflot, the new carrier is expected to start operations in the second quarter of 2014. Aeroflot says the new airline initially will serve “the most popular destinations in the European part of Russia,” and that foreign destinations will be added in 2016.
Ukrainian airlines can resume flights to the U.S. now that the FAA has upgraded Ukraine to a Category 1 rating under the International Aviation Safety Assessment program.
