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Russia's Aeroflot to Ban Travel for 300,000 'Blacklist Passengers'

Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti

Russian state airline Aeroflot will soon be able to refuse to transport more than 300,000 passengers on the company's internal blacklist, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the go-ahead on Thursday during a meeting with Aeroflot's general director Vitaly Savelyev.

Savelyev said that similar measures were already in place at European airlines.

He also proposed raising the maximum fine for unruly passengers to 500,000 rubles ($8,000), and even introducing prison sentences of up to 20 years if a member of the crew is injured by an onboard scuffle.

Savelyev previously spoke out against problem passengers in June, asking that crew members be granted greater powers to handcuff and tightly restrain rowdy passengers.

Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Savelyev said that airline staff were only able tie down out-of-control passengers with blankets.



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