MOSCOW, March 20 - RAPSI. The Moscow Commercial Court has postponed until March 27 UTair Aviation's $15.2 million lawsuit against the Finance Ministry.

UTair seeks to recover the losses that it incurred in 2008 for transporting children under the age of 12 at a 50-percent discount.

The plaintiff told the court that the airlines are legally obliged to grant the discount, but have no legal means to compensate the relevant losses.

UTair filed a lawsuit against the Finance Ministry on the grounds that the Constitutional Court recognized the expenses sustained by the airlines as losses.

The Finance Ministry argued that children under 12 are not a privileged class entitled to discounts by law. Thus, it said the carrier cannot hold the government accountable for the losses that it incurred by offering the discount.

The court has postponed the hearings to allow the plaintiff time to properly build its case.

UTair is Russia's leading airline and is the second largest domestic carrier. The UTair Group comprises UTair Aviation, UTair Express, UTair-Ukraine, UTair-Cargo, Nefteyugansk OAO, Helisur, UTair Europe s.r.o., and UTair South Africa (Pty) Ltd. UTair operates 184 planes.