At least two European airlines scrapped flights to Moscow Thursday (May 27) after Russian aviation authorities didn’t give them permission to change their routes in order to bypass Belarus, Bloomberg reported Thursday evening.
Air France reportedly canceled a flight from Paris to Moscow Thursday after it was delayed the previous day and later announced Friday’s also would not fly. Austrian canceled a flight from Vienna after Russian authorities did not approve adjustments to its route, spokeswoman Yvonne Wachholder said by email, according to Bloomberg.
Austria’s Foreign Ministry called the Russian move “totally incomprehensible” and appealed to Moscow for an explanation, the Austrian Press Agency reported.
Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency reportedly declined to comment.
Recall, the European Union’s air-safety regulator advised airlines to avoid flying over Belarus after the diversion of a Ryanair Holdings Plc flight on Sunday May 23, raising doubts about the Eastern European nation’s respect for international aviation rules. European air carriers started to avoid Belarus earlier this week after its President Alexander Lukashenko ordered the Ryanair flight to be grounded in Minsk, where authorities detained a dissident journalist.
Bloomberg said in the evening of May 27 that skirting Belarus causes minor changes in airlines’ anticipated flight path once they enter Russia, for which they need permission from local aviation authorities. Other European carriers, including KLM and British Airways, have reportedly been allowed to land in Russia using updated routes.
Meanwhile, Russian news agency RBC, citing its source, said on May 27 that such alternate flights bypassing Belarus will be permitted in the near future.
