Staff Writer:
British airlines have been banned from landing at Russia’s airports and from crossing its airspace, the Russian civil aviation regulator has said.
According to Report, Russia said the move was a response to “the unfriendly decisions by the UK aviation authorities”.
As part of sanctions introduced following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine On Thursday 24th February, the UK banned Russia’s national airline Aeroflot from landing in Britain.
UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told ITV: that this is Russia “tit for tat response”. He said, “I think that’s their retaliation for us yesterday banning Aeroflot from using and landing in the United Kingdom.”
Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia said: “This measure was taken in accordance with the provisions of the Intergovernmental Air Services Agreement between Russia and the UK as a response to unfriendly decisions by the UK aviation authorities regarding the restriction on regular flights of aircraft owned, leased or operated by a person associated with Russia or registered in Russia.”
Following Russia’s announcement, British Airways, which normally operates three flights per week each way between London and Moscow, apologized to its customers for inconveniences in a statement.
According to the statement, it was notifying customers on canceled services and would offer full refunds.
“We apologize for the inconvenience but this is clearly a matter beyond our control,” the airline said. “We will continue to monitor the situation closely.”
Virgin Atlantic also said flight paths had been adjusted for some of its services between the UK, Pakistan and India. Flight times on these routes will be extended by between 15 minutes and an hour.
Virgin Atlantic apologized for the delays, adding: “The safety and security of our customers and people always comes first and we’re monitoring the situation in Ukraine and Russia extremely carefully following the escalation of conflict.”
Recall, Ukraine’s airspace closed on Thursday after Russian forces launched a military invasion of the country.
Moldova also said it was closing its airspace and Belarus shut part of its airspace on Thursday.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has warned of safety risks in flying in airspace near to Ukraine’s borders, including in Russia.
“There is a risk of both intentional targeting and misidentification of civil aircraft,” the regulator said on Thursday.
“The presence and possible use of a wide range of ground and airborne warfare systems poses a high risk for civil flights operating at all altitudes and flight levels.” It says.
