"Belavia Switched To A "corrupt" Ticket Booking System

• 9.02.2026, 10:15

In Russia, a high-profile scandal.

The operator of the Leonardo air ticket reservation system, whose product Belavia is reorienting to instead of the American Sabre in 2023, has found itself at the center of a corruption scandal in Russia, the site "Belarusians and the market" noted.

The Russian Prosecutor General's Office filed a lawsuit to seize the Leonardo air reservation system and the airport system of passenger and baggage check-in Astra into the state income.

It concluded that the owners of these systems, Sirena-Travel, TKP and other companies of the group, which provide critical information services in air transport, were acquired by corrupt means and are under criminal influence and foreign control. "Belavia negotiated in 2023 with these structures.

In order to become a leader in booking airline tickets, the current owners of Sirena-Travel and Leonardo, according to the Prosecutor General's Office, in 2003, deliberately bankrupted the state enterprise "Main Agency of Air Communications of Civil Aviation".

The suspects include the deceased ex-general director of Vnukovo Airlines, a current LDPR State Duma deputy and one of the businessmen.

The Leonardo system, by the way, together with Sirena-Travel, is managed on a parity basis by a subsidiary of Rostec State Corporation.