EASA recommended that airlines flying to the EU refrain from flying in Russian airspace west of the 60th meridian east longitude, noted the «Agency»*.
In the information bulletin, EASA specifies that the recommendation concerns Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Rostov-on-Don, and Samara.
At the same time, as stated in the message, no EU airline operates flights into, out of, or through Russian airspace, but a number of carriers from third countries continue to do so despite the risks associated with the war.
EASA published the recommendation based on flight safety considerations, which cannot be guaranteed under the conditions of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. This military conflict creates the danger of unintentional attacks on civilian aircraft in Russian airspace due to poor coordination between civilian authorities and the military, according to the regulator's message.
The new EASA recommendations were published against the backdrop of the investigation into the crash of an Azerbaijani Embraer E190AR airliner, which failed to land in Grozny and crashed in Aktau, Kazakhstan. According to the results of the preliminary investigation, the aircraft was damaged by a Russian air defense missile, which was activated in response to launches of Ukrainian missiles and drones deep within Russian territory.
After the air disaster, several airlines canceled flights to Russian cities.
* Recognized in Russia as a «foreign agent».