U.S., Soviets Agree to Resume Direct Air Service in April
Direct airline service between the United States and the Soviet Union will resume April 29 under the terms of diplomatic notes exchanged Thursday at the State Department.
The new agreement calls for Pan American World Airways and the Soviet airline Aeroflot to each operate a maximum of four flights a week to the cities of Washington, New York, Moscow and Leningrad.
During their Geneva summit in November, President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev called for a civil aviation agreement “at an early date.” Bureaucrats on both sides consumed the next three months completing work on the details.
Flights Ended in 1978
Pan Am ended its flights to the Soviet Union in 1978, when airline officials complained that the route was unprofitable because of red tape and restrictions imposed by the Soviet Union. Aeroflot service was suspended in late 1981 as part of a package of U.S. sanctions against the Soviet Union.
Negotiations aimed at a new agreement broke down last October because Moscow refused to drop its restrictions on Pan Am operations.
State Department spokesman Charles Redman said that the new pact “takes full consideration of the financial requirements of the U.S. carrier.”
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