AiRUnion, jointly run by the state and Abramovich brothers, has been hit by a cash crisis leading to flight delays across Russia since August 21, a government pledge to provide the company with fuel has failed to solve the company's financial problems which include fuel bills, back tax claims and a bankruptcy suit.
The source said that AiRUnion would be handed over to Atlant-Soyuz in the near future. No one from either company has made any comment on the merger rumors.
Russian Transportation Minister Igor Levitin said Thursday it would take about a week to resolve AiRUnion's flight backlog.
The crisis has affected passengers across Russia with around 600 people stranded at Siberian airports on Tuesday as KrasAir's fuel arrears hit $1 billion.
Levitin met with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to report on measures being taken to ensure passengers stranded at airports return home safely.
On August 27, Levitin said emergency board meetings for KrasAir and Moscow's Domodedovo Airlines, another AiRUnion member, were expected to settle financial issues within the companies by early September.
A bankruptcy suit has been filed against KrasAir and the airline is also facing tax claims worth 1.53 billion rubles ($62 million), the Vedomosti daily recently reported.
The Federal Tax Service also claims a further 561.6 million rubles ($22.85 million) in taxes and 259.4 million rubles ($10.55 million) in fines from the airline, the newspaper said.
