Russia's move to block incoming flights from the airlines of 36
countries was announced Monday, 28 February by Russia's Federal Agency
for Air Transport, following aviation sanctions by the UK, the European
Union and Canada.
"In accordance with the norms of international law, in response to
the ban by European states on flights by civilian aircraft operated by
Russian airlines and/or registered in Russia, flights by airlines from
36 countries were restricted," the Russian agency said.
SIA suspends flights between Singapore and Moscow
On 28 February, Singapore Airlines (SIA) announced that it will
"temporarily suspend" all return services between Singapore and Moscow
effective immediately. SIA cited “operational reasons” for the
indefinite suspension which affects flights SQ362 and SQ361.
Among the countries on the list are the UK, Germany, Austria, Greece,
Denmark, France, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Canada, the Netherlands,
Poland, Norway, Portugal, Finland and the Czech Republic.
Flights from those countries can operate to Russia only after receiving a special permit, the Russian government said.
So far, the US has not joined the EU's ban on Russian airline
flights, but Canada's closure of its airspace to Russian carriers led
Aeroflot, Russia's national carrier and largest airline, to announce
Monday that it has suspended transatlantic flying through Wednesday. The
move disrupts Aeroflot service from Moscow to Miami, Los Angeles, New
York JFK and Washington Dulles as well as flights to Cancun, Punta Cana
and the Cuban cities of Havana and Veradero.
The decision came after Transport Canada reported Sunday that an
Aeroflot flight violated the Canada airspace ban as it flew from Miami
to Moscow. Though Aeroflot does not serve Canada, it utilises Canadian
airspace for routes to North America and the Caribbean.
Similarly, the closure of Russian airspace is also disrupting routes
that don't actually depart from or land in Russia. For example, Air
France has made adjustments to four Asian routes that would normally
including flying over Russia, including adding a Seoul stopover for its
Paris-Beijing service. More dramatically, Finnair has cancelled all
flights to Seoul, Osaka, Tokyo, Shanghai and Guangzhou through 6 March.
Source: Travel Weekly