Main Directorate of Civil Air Fleet under the Council of Ministers of the USSR

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Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet under the Council of Ministers of the USSR

Главное управление гражданского воздушного флота при Совете министров СССР
Regulatory authority overview
Formed	February 25, 1932 (1932-02-25)
Preceding agencies	All-Union Association of the Civil Air Fleet under the Council of Labor and Defense of the USSR Russian Voluntary Air Fleet Society
Dissolved	July 27, 1964 (1964-07-27)
Superseding Regulatory authority	Ministry of Civil Aviation of the USSR
Jurisdiction	Soviet Union
Headquarters	Moscow, Leningradsky Prospekt, 37
Key document	Air Code of the USSR

Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet under the Council of Ministers of the USSR (Soviet acronym: GUGVF Aeroflot) or simply Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet "Aeroflot" was the regulatory authority responsible for all activities related to civil aviation in the Soviet Union.

The Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet under the Government of the USSR was established on February 25, 1932 as a result of the reorganization of the All-Union Association of the Civil Air Fleet under the Council of Labor and Defense of the USSR (VOGVF). A month later, it was renamed Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet "Aeroflot". In addition, an Inspectorate for Monitoring the Technical Operation of Aircraft in all Civil Agencies and Organizations was established. In the same year, the first Air Code of the USSR was created, which protected the sovereignty of airspace over the territory of the Soviet Union and its territorial waters, as well as provided the necessary conditions for the development and widespread use of aviation in the national economy.

On July 27, 1964, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet under the Council of Ministers of the USSR was dissolved, and the Ministry of Civil Aviation of the USSR was established in its place.

Initially, the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet oversaw specialized trusts:

• Transport Aviation
• Construction
• Aircraft Repair
• Aviation Supply
• Agricultural and Forestry Aviation

As the GUGVF failed to fully meet its assigned tasks, on May 19, 1934, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR issued a resolution reorganizing it. As a result, trusts such as Transport and Agricultural Aviation, Aircraft Repair, and Aviation Supply, along with their local branches, were abolished. In their place, territorial administrations were formed, which became the main organizational units of the Civil Air Fleet, overseeing all types of civil aviation operations in their respective territories. These territorial administrations were vested with rights and responsibilities for managing subordinate airports, aviation detachments, and other divisions and services. Initially, there were twelve territorial administrations (centers indicated in parentheses):

• Moscow Civil Air Fleet Administration (Moscow)
• Northern Civil Air Fleet Administration (Leningrad)
• Ukrainian Civil Air Fleet Administration (Kyiv)
• Central Asian Civil Air Fleet Administration (Tashkent)
• Transcaucasian Civil Air Fleet Administration (Tiflis)
• Kazakh Civil Air Fleet Administration (Alma-Ata)
• Azov-Black Sea-Caucasus Civil Air Fleet Administration (Rostov)
• Volga Civil Air Fleet Administration (Saratov)
• Ural Civil Air Fleet Administration (Sverdlovsk)
• Western Siberian Civil Air Fleet Administration (Novosibirsk)
• Eastern Siberian Civil Air Fleet Administration (Irkutsk)
• Far Eastern Civil Air Fleet Administration (Khabarovsk)

Additionally, the Directorate of Capital Construction of the GUGVF was part of the structure, responsible for the construction of civil aviation facilities.

In 1936, the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet was relieved of some of its burdens with the creation of the Main Directorate of the Aviation Industry under the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry, which took over the responsibility for the design and creation of aviation technology.

• "217b. Regulations on the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet under the SNK of the USSR" (in Russian). 1934-05-19. Retrieved 2014-09-13.
• "Development of Civil Aviation during the Pre-War Five-Year Plans (1929–1941)" (in Russian). Military Education in Russia. Retrieved 2014-09-13.
• "Resolution of May 19, 1934, No. 1180 on the Reorganization of the Civil Air Fleet Management Bodies" (in Russian). 1934-05-19. Retrieved 2014-09-13.