INTERNATIONAL CIVIL AIR SERVICE TO COMMUNIST COUNTRIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 21, 2011
• Sequence Number: 50
• Publication Date: April 1, 1970
• Content Type: IM

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
c l/lodz. I T J 7
Secret
DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
Intelligence Memorandum
International Civil Air Service To Communist Countries
Secret
ER IM 70-50
April 1970
r ..;
Copy No. ,-
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
WARNING
This do,^ument contains information affecting the national
defense of the United States, within the meaning of Titre
18, sections 793 and 794, of the US Code, as amended.
Its transmission or revelation of its contents to or re-
ceipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
GROUP I
CeduJ,J horn nuInmoiic
Jownyoh,'q nnJ
_ _d`clooifmIion
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
0 SECRET
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Directorate of Intelligence
April 1970
International Civil Air Service
To Communist Countries
Introduction
Until the late 1950s, international civil air
service to Communist countries was primarily an
intra-Communist regional operation carried on by
Communist airlines. Since then, most of the major
Free World international airlines have introduced
and subsequently expanded service to the Communist
world, principally to the USSR and Eastern Europe.
This development has been more than matched by the
reciprocal services of Communist airlines to the
Free World. Air routes to the Asian Communist coun-
tries are still quite limited. This memorandum
examines scheduled international service to Commu-
nist countries by Free World and Communist airlines
and prospects for its expansion.
International Civil Air Service to Communist
Countries
1. Thirty-four civil airlines serve 13 Commun-
ist countries with more than 600 international flights
a week.* Communist airlines operate more than two-
thirds of these flights, divided about evenly between
* rFZights are on a weekly basis unless otherwise
indicated, and one flight is considered to be a
round trip.
Note: This memorandum was produced soZeZy by CIA.
It was prepared by the Office of Economic Research
and was coordinated with the Office of Current In-
telligence within CIA and with the Bureau of Inte Z-
Zigence and Research and the Office of Aviation in
the Department of State.
SECRET
25X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3 _
 I~
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
SECRET
flights to Free World countries* and flights on the
intra-Communist rouL,e network.
2. Free World airlines, flying between Commun-
ist and Free world countries and performing no intra-
Communist service, account for less than one-third
of total international flights into Communist coun-
tries (see Tables 1 and 2).
3. The level of international service to Com-
munist countries is small in comparison with that
available to developed Free World countries. There
are more international flights into Vienna, for
example, than into the entire USSR. London alone
has four times as many international flights as the
13 Communist countries combined.
Free World Airline Service to communist countries
4. Twenty-four Free World airlines operate 165
scheduled passenger flights to 10 Communist coun-
tries. Six Western European airlines -- Air France,
KLM, Austrian Airways, Swissair, BEA, and SAS -- ac-
count for one-half of these flights. Air France
and Yugoslavia Air Transport (JAT) serve the largest
number of Communist countries (seven each), while
Austrian Airways provides the largest number of
flights per week (20). Service to the USSR (18 air-
lines -- 49 flights) see the map and Czechoslovakia
(16 airlines -- 44 flights) accounts for over
half of the Free World airline operations to Commu-
nist countries. Hungary, Poland, and Romania each
are served by nine or 10 Free World carriers offer-
ing over 20 flights per week; service to Bulgaria
and East Germany is much more limited. Only two
Free World airlines serve Albania -- Italy's Alita-
lia with a weekly flight between Rome and Tirana,
and Pakistan's PIA on a weekly flight between Karachi
and London.
- 2 -
SECRET
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
International Civil Al 'r Service to Communist Countries
Winter 1969-70 a/
Free World Airlines
Communist Airlines
Total
Country Served
Number
Flights
per Week
Number
Flights
per Week
Airlines
Flights
per Week
18
49
8
54
26
103
Eastern Europe
Cn
Albania
2
2
2
2
4
4
Bulgaria
3
10
6
21
9
31
Czechoslovakia
16
44
7
36
23
80
East Germany
3
4
6
46
9
50
Hungary
10
24
F.
26
16
50
~'7
Poland
9
23
6
20
15
43
Romania
9
23
5
14
14
37
Communist China
2
3
1
1
3
4
Mongolia
0
0
2
3
2
3
North Korea
0
0
2
2
2
2
North Vietnam
0
0
2
3
2
3
1
1
2
3
3
4
a. Some of these flights are routed via two or more Communist countries.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
 M
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
Free liorld and Communist Airlines Serving Communist Countries
Winter 1969-70
Code
Airline Albania
Bulgaria
Co~miat
China a
Cuba
Czecho-
slovskie
East
Germany
Hungary
Mongolia
Rortt North
Korea Vietnam
Poland
Romania
USSR
Countries
Served
Flights
per Week
Free World
.C
Air Canada
x
1
2
AF
Air France
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
7
14
AH
Air Algeria
x
1
1
Al
Air India
x
x
2
6
AY
Flnaair
x
x
x
3
7
AZ
Alitalia (Italian)
x
x
-
x
x
x
5
7
BE
BEA (British European)
x
x
x
x
x
5
11
FG
Arians Afghan Airlines
x
1
1
IA
Iraqi Airwsy3
x
x
-
J
-
2
2
IB
Iberia Airlines (Spanish)
x
1
1
IR
Iran National Airlines
x
1
1
JL
JAL (Japan Airlines)
x
1
2
JU
JAT (Yugoslavia)
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
7
18
KL
KIX (Royal Aatch)
x
x
x
x
4
9
LR
Lufthansa Germ Airlines
X
x
x
-
3
'2
CO
LY
El Al Israel Airlines
?
_
x
1
1
MS
UAA(United Arab Airlines)
-
x
x
..
x
3
4
OS
Alit (Austrian)
x
x
x
x
x
x
6
20
FA
American)
FPA
(
x
x
2
4
PK
Pakistan))
PIA
x
X
x
3
4
RB
Syrian Arab Airlines
x
1
1
SK
SAS (Scandinavian)
x
x
x
x
4
16
SN
Sabena (Belgium)
x
x
x
x
4
8
SR
Swissair
?
x
x
x
x
x
5
13
Communist
2
1
16
5
LO
o
O
0
2
2
18
165
CA
CAAC (Communist Chinese)
x
x
x
x
4
5
CU
Cubans Airlines
1
1
IF
Interfing (East Germany)
X
X
x
x
x
x
x
7
54
LO
LOT (Polish)
x
x
x
x
x
x
6
37
LZ
BALKAN (Bulgarian)
x
x
x
x
z
5
13
CM
Air Mongol (Mongolia)
x
1
1
MA
MALEV (Hungarian)
x
x
x
x
.
x -
x
x
7
24
OK
CSA (Czechoslovak)
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
7
23
RO
TA. (Romanian)
x
x
x
x
.
x
x
6
11
3U
Aeroflot (USSR)
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
58
10
Subtotal
2
6
6
5
8
227
Total
4
?
2
L5
144
26
M
a. The Civil Aviation Administration of North Korea CAAx operates one internstioorl flight per wr.?k between
flight, however, is generally operated in midweek and is flown with either an An-24 or an IL-14. IYmBf8++8 and ~~~ on a rmschednled basis. The
b. Iraqi Airways is scheduled to begin Baghdad-Warsaw service in the spring of 1970.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
SECRET
5. Free World air service to USSR/Eastern
Europe has increased sharply during the last decade.
The number of Free World airlines serving the USSR
has more than doubled, and the number of flights
has more than tripled since 1960. Sabena is the
only Free World airline that has dropped its service
to the USSR. The increase of Free World air service
into Czechoslovakia during the 1960s was almost as
great as for the USSR. East Germany had no service
by Free World airlines in 1960, but is now served by
three lines with a total of four flights a week.
6. Communist China currently is served by only
two Free World airlines -- Air France and Pakistani
International Airlines (PIA). PIA inaugurated ser-
vice to China in 1964 and now operates twice-weekly
flights, one between Dacca and Shanghai via Canton
and the second between Karachi and Shanghai via
Dacca. Air France began service to China in Septem-
ber 1966 with a weekly flight from Paris to Canton
and Shanghai. Now the flight operates only to
Shanghai, via Athens, Cairo, Karachi and Phnom Penh.
Royal Air Cambodge (RAC), which began scheduled
weekly flights between Phnom Penh and Canton in 1964,
apparently suspended scheduled service in October
1969.
7. There are no Free World airlines serving
Mongolia, North Korea, or North Vietnam.* Cuba is
served by one Free World carrier -- Spain's Iberia
Airlines -- with a weekly flight between Madrid and
Havana. The passengers on this flight are prin-
cipally Cuban refugees en route to Spain.** All of
the Free World airlines that fly into Communist
countries use Western aircraft with the exception
of the UAR's United Arab Airlines (UAA), which uses
Soviet AN-24s on three of its four flights.
8. The only major international airlines that
offer no service to Communist countries are BOAC,
Qantas, and TWA. Lufthansa and Sabena are the only
A In January 1969, RAC resumed service to Hanoi on
the Phnom Penh-Canton flight after a three-year sus-
pension. The new service met with continuing diffi-
culties -- weather, communications, and equipment --
and the intermediate stop at Hanoi was suspended in
mid-1969.
- 5 -
SECRET
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
SECRET
major airlines flying into Communist countries that
offer no service to the USSR. The leading airline
of the Middle East (in terms of number of flights) --
Middle East Airlines Air Liban (a private Lebanese
airline) -- also has no service to Communist coun-
tries, and the Israeli ,'mine El Al flies only into
Romania.
Reciprocity of Service
9. Existing Free World airline services to
Communist countries generally are based on bilateral
civil air agreements that provide for reciprocal
service by each of the contracting parties. Full
reciprocity of service occurs on the heavily
traveled routes between Western European countries
and USSR/Eastern Europe. In terms of number of
flights, however, there is some imbalance. Ten West-
etn European airlines perform 116 flights a week
into USSR/Eastern Europe, while the seven Communist
airlines from the corresponding area fly 150 flights
a week into Western Europe.
10. Reciprocal service is less commonly found
in other areas of the world -- Africa, Asia, and the
Middle East -- that have witnessed a considerable
expansion of service by Communist airlines in recent
years. Aeroflot and CSA currently fly to 32 and 23
Free World countries, respectively, in these areas.
However, the USSR is served by only seven Free World
airlines and Czechoslovakia by four from Africa,
Asia, and the Middle East.
11. In the Arab world the seven Communist air-
lines serve up to 10 Arab countries with a total of
more than 40 flights per week. Although each of
these countries has an airline that offers inter-
national service, only four Arab airlines -- Air
Algerie, Iraqi Airways, Syrian Arab Airlines, and
UAA -- fly into USSR/Eastern Europe. Moreover, they
serve only three Communist countries -- the USSR,
Czechoslovakia, and East Germany -- with a total of
eight flights a week.*
- 6 -
SECRET
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
SECRET
12. The paucity of flights by non-European
Free World airlines into Communist countries stems
principally from the lack of economic viability of
these routes and only secondarily 'from a lack of
capacity, in terms of equipment and personnel, to
carry out such service. For the Communist airlines,
operations on a number of routes to less developed
areas are based on political rather than on economic
considerations.
Pooling Agreements
13. Pooling agreements have been an impoi.iant
part of many reciprocal services between Free World
and Communist airlines, particularly on routes in-
volving Aeroflot.* The pooling of traffic revenues
is the most common arrangement, but other plans
include the limited pooling of maintenance facil-
ities and "blocks of seats" on each other's air-
craft. Aeroflot has pooling agreements with at
least 15 countries, including most of the Communist
airlines and several Free World carriers -- Air
India, Ariana Afghan, BEA, SAS (Trans-Asian Service),
and United Arab Airlines. Many Free World airlines
have been receptive to these arrangements because
Communist countries require their nationals to travel
via Communist airlines whenever possible and almost
all Communist countries, particularly the USSR, have
consistently impeded the attempts of these airlines
to sell tickets in Communist countries.
New and Prospective Services
14. During 1969 and early 1970, France, Japan, the
Netherlands, and the United Kingdom secured rights
from the USSR to establish shorter routes between
* The most notable exception to pooling is the
Moscow-New York route which began in July 1968. The
US-USSR agreement provides that Aeroflot and Pan Am
will serve as general agents for each other in their
home countries, and for reciprocal advertising rights
in both countries. The Soviets delayed in meeting
some provisions in the agreement but have finally
been pressured to fulfill most of the conditions --
sales office, apartments for aviation personnel, and
the use of advertising media.
25X1
25X1
- 7 -
SECRET
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
Western Europe and Asia via Siberia. In March 1970,
Japan Air Lines (JAL), which had been operating
jointly with Aeroflot between Moscow and Tokyo since
April 1967, began independent service on this route
between Tokyo and London with two flights per week
using DC-8 aircraft.* On 9 April 1970 Air France
began twice-weekly flights between Paris and Tokyo
via Moscow and Siberia.
15. BOAC and KLM will probably begin service by
mid-1970 between Western Europe and Tokyo via Siberia.
SAS, Alitalia, and Finnair also have expressed
interest in the Trans-Siberian route. Although only
two Free World carriers -- SAS and Air India --
presently operate a Trans-Asian service, other Free
World carriers are expected to obtain similar rights
as Aeroflot seeks to expand its network in the Free
World. Even though the primary objective of the
grans-Siberian and Trans-Asian services is to carry
passengers between Western Europe and the Far East,
these flights will provide additional capacity for
the carriage of passengers to and from the USSR as
well. In the next year or so the USSR and West Ger-
many probably will sign an air agreement which would
result in scheduled Lufthansa service to Moscow.**
The Spanish airline, Iberia, may inaugurate service
to both the USSR and Poland.
16. Free World airline service to Communist China
may expand during the next few years. PIA desires
to expand its present service to include additional
Chinese cities and to serve Tokyo via Shanghai.
Canada has sought an air link with China, and Pan
American Airways has expressed an interest in a
route into Communist China. During the past year,
Communist China has shown some renewed interest in
international civil aviation matters by signing an
air agreement with Iraq. This was the first new air
* Aeroflot also flies two flights per week between
Moscow and Tokyo using IL-62 jets. Revenues of JAL
and Aeroflot on this route will be pooled.
Aeroflot and Lufthansa will operate a 1970 sum-
mer charter service of 200 flights between the USSR
and West Germany, Lufthansa will operate only 29 of
the flights; overall service includes the following
routes: Moscow-Frankfurt, Souchi-Frankfurt, Moscow-
Cologne, Leningrad-Frankfurt, Leningrad-Hamburg, and
Kiev-Munich.
SECRET
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
SECRET
agreement signed by China in more than five years.*
Peking's interest in the agreement was largely to
cultivate better political relationships with
Iraq. There is no evidence, however, that reci-
procal service between the two countries is immi-
nent.
Intra-Communist Civil Aviation
17. Communist countries are served by 10 Commu-
nist airlines, which perform more than 225 flights
per week over an intra-Communist route network of
more than 35,000 unduplicated miles. The aircraft
inventories of the communist airlines consist solely
of Soviet aircraft, except for Romania's TAROM,
which purchased six BAC-111-400 jet transports in
1968 from Great Britain, and Cubana, whose inventory
includes four ancient Bristol Britannias. Most of
the Communist airlines of the East European countries
operate at least a daily service between Moscow and
their respective capitals, and multi-weekly flights
are made between most of the East European capitals.
Service to Albania, however, is limited to weekly
service from Budapest by MALEV (the Hungarian Air
Transport Company) and one flight every two weeks
from East Berlin by Interflug (the East German State
Airline).
18. Aeroflot provides the principal Communist
service between the USSR and Asian Communist coun-
tries. Peking, Pyongyang, and Hanoi are served by
weekly Aeroflot flights from Moscow, and there are
twice-weekly flights between Moscow and Ulan Bator,
Mongolia. Reciprocal service by Mongolia's Air
Mongol and Communist China's CAAC is limited to
weekly flights to Irkutsk from their respective capi-
tals. Weekly or twice-weekly intra-Asian service
is flown by CAAC, between Peking and Pyongyang, Pek-
ing and Ulan Bator, and Nanning and Hanoi, and Vorth
Korea's CAAK makes nonscheduled weekly flights be-
tween Pyongyang and Peking.
19. Aeroflot's inauguration of a South Asian
route to Hanoi in March 1969 and the major rerouting
of its Moscow-Havana service a year earlier are the
Prior to 1969, China had air agreements only with
Burma, Ceylon, Laos, Indonesia, Cambodia, Pakistan,
and France
- 9 -
SECRET
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
SECRET
only major changes during the past several years in
the intra-Communist route network. The long-sought
Moscow-Hanoi flight, operating via Tashkent, Kara-
chi, and Calcutta, has provided an alternative to
the route through China, which requires flights on
CAAC on the Peking-Hanoi leg, The new Aerof lot
route to Hanoi, initially flown as a biweekly ser-
vice, has operated on a weekly basis since November
1969. Moscow-Havana flights, which began in Janu-
ary 1963, were routed via Murmansk until 1968, when
Aeroflot commenced operating some flights via Al-
giers. Since mid-1969, due to the success of Soviet
diplomatic efforts in Morocco, both weekly flights
have operated via Rabat (one still stops in Algiers)
thereby shortening the nonstop portion of the flight
by several hundred miles.
20. Although the intra-Communist civil air net-
work is adequate to handle current passenger traffic
requirements, further improvements are expected in
the quality and frequency of service on existing
routes, and additional communist airlines may in-
augurate air service to North Vietnam and Cuba.
Since 1968, Aeroflot and the East European airlines
have been introducing the Soviet TU-134., a new short -
to-medium-range jet, on several of the USSR-East
European regional routes, and the long-range IL-62
on a few selected routes. East Germany signed a
civil air agreement with Cuba in mid-1967, but equip-
ment limitations have kept both Interflug and Cubana
from inaugurating service. However, the anticipated
delivery of two IL-62s to Interflug in 1970 may re-
sult in an East Berlin-Havana service. Although
passenger traffic between Eastern Europe and Cuba
remains high, the only service from Eastern Europe
to Cuba is CSA's monthly Prague-Havana flights.,, It
also is possible that Interflug might inaugurate
service to Hanoi as the result of an air agreement
reportedly signed between East Germany and North
Vietnam in October 1968.
Conclusions
21. The existing route network of international
civil air service into Communist countries is fairly
dense in Eastern Europe and the western USSR and
rather sparse elsewhere in the Communist world.
Both the network and frequency of flights appear to
- 10 -
SECRET
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
SECRET
be adequate to handle the traffic flow, although
the concentration of international flights to the
respective Communist capitals makes international
travel from outlying areas difficult. The volume
of international air service to Communist countries
is small compared with that available to developed
countries of the Free World, reflecting a much lower
volume of international business and tourist traf-
fic in the Communist countries. The lion's share
of international air travel in the Communist world
is handled by Communist airlines; Free World air-
lines account for only 27% of the international
flights into Communist countries. However, these
Free World airlines carry about 45% of the passengers
traveling between Free World and Communist countries.
22. Expansion of service during the early 1970s
will occur mainly through the opening of Soviet air-
space over Siberia and Central Asia. This will
provide Free World airlines with shorter routes be-
tween Western Europe and Asia and at the same time
increase the total capacity of international air
service into the USSR. The USSR, in return, will
gain valuable landing and beyond rights that will
help Aeroflot become a round-the-world carrier.
Other anticipated expansion into the USSR and East-
ern Europe will serve to fill gaps in the existing
route network -- for example, between Spain and
USSR/Eastern Europe and between West Germany and the
USSR. Some expansion of Free World service to Com-
munist China can be expected in the next few years
if the currently adverse political climate improves
sufficiently.
SECRET
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3
Routes of Free World Airlines to the
Winter 1969-70
AC AIR CANADA
AF AIR FRANCE
AH AIR ALGERIE
Al AIR INDIA
AY FINNAIR
AZ ALITALIA
BE BRITISH EUROPEAN
FG ARIANA AFGHAN AIRLINES
IR IRAN NATIONAL AIRLINES
JL JAL (JAPAN)
JU JAT (YUGOSLAVIA)
KL KLM (ROYAL DUTCH)
MS UAA UNITED ARAB AIRLINES
OS AUA (AUSTRIAN)
PA PAA
PK PIA (PAKISTAN)
SK SAS (SCANDINAVIAN)
SR SWISSAIR
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030050-3