At hearings on October 13 the Prionezhsk regional court established that that Petrozavodsk Airport company lacked licenses to maintain aircraft, serve passengers, and handle luggage, cargo and mail, and did not have the necessary certificates relating to aviation security and hydro-meteorological regulations.
"Conducting its work without proper certificates, the company has been... putting in danger the lives and health of people who used the airport's services," the Prosecutor General's Office said in a statement.
Gennady Shamshin, the chairman of the Petrozavodsk Airport company, said that the court's decision would be appealed, and that the airport would not be closed.
"The airport continues to work as normal," Shamshin said. "In the next one-and-a-half to two months, we will receive all necessary certificates and licenses, so the closing of the airport is unlikely."
Earlier on September 25, 2006, the Arbitrary Court of the republic of Karelia fined the company 40,000 rubles ($1,485) for conducting an unlicensed business.
