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Russian airlines cut growing European airspace

Russian airlines were excluded from a growing swath of European airspace on Saturday, as tit-for-tat flight bans disrupted commercial aviation and forced some planes to make long detours .

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia have all announced bans on Russian airlines from using their airspace or landing at their airports, along with Britain, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Poland blocking their skies. The bans apply to all Russian airlines, including Aeroflot.

Kaja Kallas, Estonia’s prime minister, said: “There is no place for an aggressor nation’s planes in the skies of democracy.”

Earlier this week, Moscow warned it would retaliate against any such restrictions. As of Saturday afternoon, the Kremlin has banned airlines from the UK, Bulgaria, Poland and the Czech Republic from flying over or landing on its territory.

Bans from the Baltic states and the governments of Eastern Europe have limited Russian airlines’ flight options to Western Europe.

Tracking data from Flightradar24 shows an Aeroflot airline made a significant detour across Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea on a Saturday morning flight between Moscow and Budapest, adding 70 minutes to its journey. It made the journey before several Baltic states announced decisions to block their airspace.

The restrictions imposed by Moscow have made operations difficult for British airlines, which often use Russian airspace when flying “major detours” over northern Russia and into parts of Asia. including China and Japan.

Virgin Atlantic has suspended a freight route between London and Shanghai, while British Airways confirmed it will reroute to avoid Russian airspace, resulting in longer flight times and higher fuel costs.

European airlines are expected to be banned from Russian airspace if EU leaders attack Russian airlines in future rounds of sanctions, a scenario one executive described is a “catastrophe” for the industry.

Airlines have held planning calls and are expected to resort to “major rerouting” if banned from flying over Russia, the person said.

European airlines have varying degrees of exposure to Asia, which remains closed to many travelers because of the coronavirus. At its peak, Finnair built its entire long-haul business model on routes to Asia via Russia.

However, losses so far have been mitigated due to very weak demand for flights to Asia.

BA does not currently fly any service to China or Japan but typically operates multiple flights a day, its chief executive Sean Doyle said on Friday as he eased the impact of the bans.

The Azerbaijani air navigation service says it has opened alternative air routes for airlines seeking to avoid Russian airspace without adding major diversions for flights.

Additional reporting from Nastassia Astrasheuskaya in Moscow

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