[Intl-tobacco] Russia's Aeroflot opposed to U.S. smoking ban (fwd)

[Robert Weissman]

Russia's Aeroflot opposed to U.S. smoking ban
Source: UPI, Friday, 6/23/00
		Friday, 23 June 2000 13:30 (ET)


 MOSCOW, June 23 (UPI) -- Aeroflot, Russia's largest airline with regular
air services to half a dozen cities in the United States, has appealed to
the International Air Transport Association over a smoking ban on its
flights imposed by the U.S. Transportation Department, it was announced
Friday.

 Aeroflot has been forced to ban smoking on its flights to and from the
United States from the beginning of this month under a U.S. regulation that
bans smoking on board commercial air services arriving in or leaving from
the United States.

 The airline says it is appealing to IATA because the U.S. is "interfering
in domestic economic policies of foreign nations, violating the principle of
national sovereignty and the principle of non-interference in domestic
affairs of nations, as established by the charter of the United Nations
Organization."

 Aeroflot claims the U.S. ban on smoking breaks international law.

 Russians are some of the world's heaviest smokers, and passengers
frequently choose to fly on Aeroflot because it, unlike most major
international carriers, still allows smoking in its cabins on long-haul
routes.

 Aeroflot's U.S. destinations include New York, Washington, Chicago,
Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.