The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has warned of “high risks” for airliners flying over Russia, due to deficiencies in coordination between civil and military authorities. This recommendation follows the crash of an Azerbaijani plane, and Moscow considers it “absurd” in the context of sanctions.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) warned on Friday of the “high risks” incurred by airliners flying over Russia, due to “deficiencies” in coordination with the army illustrated according to it by the recent crash of an Azerbaijani aircraft, a recommendation deemed “absurd” by Moscow.
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In a “security bulletin on conflict zones” consulted on Friday, the EASA renewed its recommendation to airlines not to fly into western Russian airspace, the latter being already banned by Moscow to carriers based in the European Union (EU) but remaining used by Chinese, Turkish or Gulf airliners among others.
The area concerned is located “west of the 60th meridian east at all altitudes and all flight levels”, added the European agency, which independently of the sovereign measures taken by Russia, recommends avoiding overflight of part of this territory since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
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In its new bulletin, the EASA also stressed that the conflict created the risk of seeing “civil aircraft targeted in an unintentional manner (…) due to possible deficiencies in coordination between civil and military authorities” during of the entry into action of air defense. “This creates high risks for flight operations, as demonstrated by the Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 incident,” EASA stressed.
-“Recommendations”
Thirty-eight people died in the crash of this aircraft which was flying between Baku and Grozny, capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, on December 25. “This recommendation + for security reasons + seems particularly absurd in the context of the ongoing sanctions” targeting the Russian aviation sector, tackled the Russian federal aviation agency, Rossaviatsia, in a press release.
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This “is nothing other than the continuation of the policy of sanctions exercised by Western countries on the Russian civil aviation industry”, she added, deeming it “obvious that unfriendly states are trying to damage the Russian reputation and economy. Vladimir Putin admitted that Russian air defense fire took place on the day of the disaster due to a Ukrainian drone attack, but the Kremlin refused to admit responsibility, despite Baku’s insistence.
For the EASA, whose bulletin runs at least until July 31, Russia “has not demonstrated that it is fully capable” of reducing the risks suffered by civil aviation, linked to the conflict in its airspace. . The Agency noted “that no European airline currently serves Russia, nor uses its airspace”, Moscow having closed it in retaliation for Western sanctions from the start of the invasion of Ukraine.
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“However, several airlines from third countries continue to do so, despite the risks linked to war,” recalled the EASA. This is particularly the case for Chinese companies, which thus benefit from shorter routes than their European competitors, but also for Turkish and Indian carriers, as well as those based in the Gulf countries. The EASA can only issue “recommendations”. Each national civil aviation authority, such as the DGAC in France, remains free to prohibit or restrict flights over specific countries or areas to airlines under its jurisdiction.
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