Russia imposes ban on Airlines from entering 36 countries

Russia imposes ban on Airlines from entering 36 countries

Russia in a retaliatory move has imposed a sweeping ban on airlines from 36 countries.

The ban was announced on Monday by the state aviation agency, following a decision by the EU and Canada over the weekend to close their skies to Russian planes.

Rosaviatsitsia, Russia’s state aviation agency, said flights from the 36 countries listed in the ban can only enter Russian airspace with special permission.

“A restriction has been imposed on flights for airlines of 36 countries in accordance with international law as a retaliatory measure for the ban imposed by the European states on the flights of commercial airliners operated by Russian airlines and/or registered in Russia”, Rosaviatsia said in a statement on Monday.

The tit-for-tat move is to affect carriers of Albania, Austria, Anguilla, Belgium, Bulgaria, British Virgin Islands, Great Britain, Hungary, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Jersey, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Canada, the Greek Cypriot administration, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland, France, Croatia, Czechia, Sweden, Estonia, and Denmark, including Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

Since last Thursday, days after Russian recognition of two separatist-held enclaves in eastern Ukraine – Russia’s war on Ukraine has been met by an outcry from the international community, with the EU, UK, and the US implementing a range of economic sanctions against Russia.

Russia has been further isolated a number of its banks were kicked out of the SWIFT international banking system.

On Sunday, European Union (EU) chief Ursula von der Leyen had announced the 27-nation bloc’s decision to close their airspace to Russian airlines.

These restrictions were in addition to harsh sanctions imposed against Russian financial institutions and leaders. Some, including the US, EU, UK and Canada, have even imposed individual sanctions targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

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Growing tension between Russia and western nations over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has so far had a modest impact on airlines, which are trying to recover from huge losses since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

They face jet-fuel prices that have climbed more than 50% since last summer and are likely to rise further because of sanctions against Russian oil and natural gas.

Airlines in the US and Europe are expecting to pack planes with transatlantic vacationers this summer. Helane Becker, an airline analyst for Cowen, said Friday that she continued to expect strong travel demand from the US to western Europe, but travel to eastern Europe “will be curtailed until there is some resolution or some assurance it won’t spread to other countries.”