Non European airlines should not fly in western Russia airspace

The European Union The aviation safety agency issued a new warning on Thursday warning non-European airlines not to fly within western Russia’s airspace due to the risk of being inadvertently attacked by their air defense systems.

Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsiya condemned the warning as a new imposition of sanctions on Russian companies and an attempt to allow Western airlines to regain lost markets.

EASA said the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Kazakhstan last month after Russian anti-aircraft missiles fired at Ukrainian drones showed the high risk at play. At least 38 people were killed in the crash.

“The ongoing conflict following the Russian invasion of Ukraine poses a risk of civilian aircraft being inadvertently attacked in the airspace of the Russian Federation due to possible lack of civil-military coordination and the potential for misidentification,” EASA said.

“EASA recommends not to operate in the affected airspace of the Russian Federation west of 60 degrees east longitude at all altitudes and altitudes.”

The warning was aimed at EASA-approved third-country operators as Russian airspace has been closed to European Union airlines since the bloc imposed Ukraine-related sanctions on the Russian aviation sector.

A statement from Rosaviatsiya released on Friday said that flight safety was the top priority and the recommendation was unjustified.

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“This recommendation is nothing more than a continuation of the sanctions policy of Western countries against the aviation industry of the Russian Federation,” the messaging app Telegram said.

EASA is trying to reduce the number of flights by Asian airlines to EU destinations via the Trans-Siberian route.

“With this recommendation, EASA is simply trying to regain the lost competitive advantage for its companies,” it said.

Four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of the Azerbaijani investigation told Reuters last month that Russian air defenses accidentally shot down the plane. Passengers said they heard a loud bang outside the plane.

President Vladimir Putin apologized to the Azerbaijani leader for what the Kremlin called a “tragic incident,” although the Kremlin’s statement did not say that Russia shot down the plane, only indicating that a criminal case had been opened.

—Reporting by Sarah Marsh in Berlin; Editing by Rod Nickel, Ron Popeski and Matthew Lewis