Honestly, I am not trying to exagerate.  Very early 2015 or very late 2014 for the first flight to St Petersburg - that is my prediction, and that is based on every time in the past Baltia has missed it's targets by easily 6 months to a year.  (But I do agree....the certificate from this side of the Atlantic will be obtained this year - and probably sometime in June - once again, just my guess).

I, for the life of me, just think that the heavy C check is going to hit snags and delays - but most importantly, I think the Russian approval thing is going to get tied up in red tape (pun intended) over there on the other side.  My gut tells me that "the approval" is going to have to move from one desk to another......and at each stop, someone is going to find something to hold things up......until the right price is paid.  Then the document will move to the next desk, and so on.

LOL - how often does a chance like this come along?  Do you think any Russian in a position of authority is going to let this one slip by?  And don't you think he is going to help his friends to do the same?  It is a once in a lifetime opportunity (when was the last time an American based airline sought permission to land in St. Petersburg?).

6 months of red tape and paying people off before N706BL touches down on Russian soil.................and that should put us to the end of 2014/very beginning of 2015.

Again.............just my opinion, and based on absolutely nothing but past circumstances with Baltia and my limited and naive life experiences...........

Let us all hope (and do everything that we can) to help prove me wrong.