MOSCOW, September 11 - RAPSI. The U.S. District Court of the Central District of California has dismissed a local travel agency's lawsuit against Aeroflot, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) reports on Tuesday.

Aeroflot sued Riviera Travel and Tours in the U.S. court in 2011, accusing its employees of fraud. The defendant soon filed a counterclaim.

Riviera maintained that Aeroflot's employees began extorting money from the company after the two firms signed a contract granting the travel agency an exclusive right to sell tickets to the United States. Riviera demanded $3.5 million in compensation. However, the court dismissed the lawsuit.

The decision states that the U.S. company must set forth all of the aforementioned claims against Aeroflot in its statement of defense, instead of initiating a separate trial.
At the same time, the airline filed a lawsuit against Riviera Travel and Tours and its head Karen Tumanyan last October. Aeroflot insists that the company, which was its registered agent, committed fraud. As a result, Aeroflot suffered losses of no less than $315,000, it has said.

In turn, the travel agency refused to recognize Aeroflot's claims, submitting a corresponding statement to the court and filing a counterclaim against the airline and its employees Andrei Novokshonov and Alexei Alexandrov. Earlier, the airline said the counterclaim is an attempt by Riviera to hide its own fraudulent activities.