The European Aviation Safety Agency has advised European companies not to fly to several Russian cities. The list includes Moscow and St. Petersburg, UNN reports with reference to EASA.
Details
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has published a new Conflict Zone Information Bulletin, which recommends that aviation operators avoid flying in the airspace of the Russian Federation west of the 60th meridian of east longitude at all altitudes and echelons. The list includes the following air areas:
- Moscow;
- Rostov-on-Don;
- St. Petersburg;
- Yekaterinburg;
- Samara.
This recommendation is related to Russia's ongoing illegal invasion of Ukraine and the potential risks to aviation safety in the region. EASA continues to closely monitor the situation to assess possible changes in the threat and risk level.
EASA reminded that most of the incidents occurred in airspace not closed by the Russian Federation during drone attacks or activation of air defense systems.
This creates a high risk for flights, as evidenced by the incident with Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 on December 25, 2024. In terms of airspace management, the state concerned (Russia - ed.) has not demonstrated full qualifications to address the existing risks in the airspace by implementing an effective and proactive approach to airspace deconfliction
Aircraft operators are advised to follow this recommendation and avoid flying in the specified airspace until further notice.
Recall
As a reminder, on December 25, an Embraer 190 plane crashed at the airport of the Kazakh city of Akau , killing 38 people.