Severe, Suspicious Penalty
On July 25, Korean Air announced that the 8 billion ruble (US$89 million) fine imposed by Russian customs last year has been reduced by roughly half through an initial ruling in the local court. Despite the reduction, the airline expressed its intention to appeal the decision.
According to sources in the aviation industry, the Russian Commercial Court, which presided over the first-instance trial, recently ruled that Korean Air should pay a fine of 4.15 billion rubles to Russian customs.
The fine was imposed on the airline one year ago for an incident involving a KE529 cargo flight on Feb. 22, 2021, which departed from Incheon International Airport, had a layover in Moscow, and was en route to Frankfurt, Germany,. The aircraft took off without obtaining a seal stamp from Moscow Airport Customs.
Korean Air initiated a formal lawsuit, arguing that the punitive measures were excessively severe and the law was applied in an unreasonable manner. In the aviation industry, some viewed the substantial fine as related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Moreover, the fact that the fine was imposed on Feb. 24 last year, the date of Ukraine’s invasion, was also cited as a point of contention.
The airline plans to lodge an appeal against the first-instance ruling, as it maintains that it followed all procedures in accordance with Russian regulations and provided evidence on multiple occasions. Nonetheless, it finds it challenging to accept the imposition of such a significant fine.