Moscow, 2014-5-21 — /Travel PR News/ — Approved Gate Check Status is awarded under Section 40 of The Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 in return for an audited high standard of document checking and security procedures at a port of embarkation, a good level of co-operation from the carrier and a satisfactory record in paying outstanding charges. This status is given to air carriers operating flights to the UK that meet the following requirements:
— Specially trained personnel, skilled in detecting forged and falsified documents;
— Passport and visa control by carrier’s personnel envisages mandatory inspection of documents of all passengers immediately before boarding the aircraft;
— Maintaining interaction with authorized representatives of the UK immigration service, regular exchange of information on newly identified methods of forgery and illegal migration.
Performance reviews are fed by information provided by carriers themselves, their local or nearest Immigration Liaison Manager and UK arrival ports.
Granting an air carrier AGC status is recognition of the high professionalism of its personnel in the prevention of illegal migration to the United Kingdom. The status also gives the carrier certain preferences in the application of penalties for carrying passengers with invalid documents.
AGC status is initially granted for a period of six months. If the quality documents check is maintained at a high level for a long time, the status can be assigned for a year.
AGC status for JSC «Aeroflot — Russian Airlines» will be valid until March 13, 2015. AGC Status confirms Aeroflot’s high security standards and once again underlines the company’s constant improvement of ground service, as well as company’s endeavor for excellence in every sphere of its activity and enhanced customer service quality.
Aeroflot is Russia’s flagship carrier and one of the largest airline groups in Europe. In 2013, its 90th anniversary year, Aeroflot carried 20.9 million passengers (31.4 million passengers as Aeroflot Group including subsidiaries), a record for any Russian airline. A proud member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance, Aeroflot and its partners serve more than 1,000 destinations in 178 countries worldwide. Aeroflot operates one of the most modern and youngest fleets in Europe, numbering 158 Airbus, Boeing and Sukhoi airliners with an average age of 4.3 years. Aeroflot is among the global leaders in aviation safety. The company’s European Community Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft (SAFA) Index, which is the main globally recognized safety parameter, is comparable to global peers. The first Russian carrier to enter the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) register, renewing its registration for the fifth time in 2013, Aeroflot has successfully passed the IATA Safety Audit for Ground Operations (ISAGO) and is fully ISO 9001:2008 compliant. In 2013 Aeroflot was named by SKYTRAX as the Best Airline in Eastern Europe for the second time. Find more at www.aeroflot.com.
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