He noted that the Air Code serves as the main document for the country's civil aviation. "It is a kind of Constitution for our aviation industry, a set of laws that defines its functioning," Bostонов explained.
According to him, a number of states lack a unified Air Code: "In some countries, laws related to civil aviation are scattered across various codes or compiled in separate documents. In this regard, we can indeed be envied, as we have a single document that regulates all aspects of civil aviation. The code clearly outlines the duties and powers of various bodies, such as the State Agency for Civil Aviation, which has been delegated supervisory functions, with details in subordinate regulatory acts," he added.
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the regulatory acts of Kyrgyzstan are convenient and comply with international standards. "All acts are numbered, where each number corresponds to a specific area. For example, the first rule concerns the licensing of pilots and air traffic controllers, the second - flight rules in airspace, and so on. The numbering of the rules corresponds to the ICAO 'annexes', which implies compliance with international standards," Bostонов explained.
The head of the agency also reported on the amendments made to the Air Code in recent years aimed at harmonizing it with European legislation. "We did not conduct a complete overhaul of the code, as is sometimes claimed, but only made amendments and changes to subordinate acts to comply with European norms. These aspects were not previously outlined. European countries also undergo ICAO audits and follow international practices, just like us. All changes were agreed upon over three years and presented in Brussels," he clarified.
Bostонов added that the process of adopting the Air Code in Kyrgyzstan went very quickly. "The Europeans cite us as an example to other countries: usually, such processes take at least two years, while we managed it in just six months. This surprised them, and the defense in Brussels went quite successfully," he said.
Moreover, he noted that the code is fully harmonized with the documents of other countries that are members of ICAO, including Russia, Kazakhstan, and the European Union states. "All 193 ICAO member countries have harmonized documents, and there are no completely different ones from international standards," he concluded.
