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Austria’s Foreign Ministry said Russia’s refusal to allow the rerouting was “absolutely incomprehensible” and called for it not to “artificially impede free air traffic between Russia and Europe.”
“Both Austria and Russia have an interest in ensuring that all flights to and through Russia continue to operate without any problems,” the Austrian Foreign Ministry told AFP.
Austrian Airlines canceled the Vienna-Moscow flight on Thursday, saying Russian officials had not approved a rerouting of the plane to avoid Belarusian airspace.
Austrian Airlines has announced the suspension of its flights over Belarus, following the recommendations of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). As a result, the route of his Vienna-Moscow flight had to change.
“The change in flight routes must be approved by the officials. Russian officials did not give us such permission,” the company said in a statement to AFP.
Austrian Airlines added that it was not yet clear whether its flight from Moscow to Vienna scheduled for Friday could take place.
Passenger tickets for the canceled flight were changed, the airline said.
The Russian Transport Ministry “AFP” has not yet ruled on the aforementioned information.
The flight from the French capital to Moscow was announced on Thursday by French airline Air France.
A source familiar with the preparations for the flight told the Interfax news agency that the airlines also intended to fly without passing through Belarus.
“Formally, scheduled air services between our countries have not been reestablished due to the limitations of the coronavirus. Each flight is considered cargo and passenger (…) This means that it is not performed automatically, according to the approved schedule, but requires a separate coordination with the Russian aeronautical authorities, “said the source.
Aeroflot has announced that part of the passengers who had to leave on the canceled Air France flight on Thursday will fly on its flight from Paris to Moscow.
Scanpix Airplane / AP Photo / Austrian Airlines
Earlier this week, EU leaders called on airlines to avoid Belarusian airspace following the crash landing of a Ryanair passenger jet flying from Athens to Vilnius on Sunday.
Ryanair reported that the plane with more than 100 passengers landed at Minsk airport when Belarusian air dispatchers reported a possible security threat on board. This information was not confirmed later.
Belarusian journalist and dissident Ramanas Pratasevičius flew this plane. When the plane landed in Minsk, he was detained, as was his girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, a Russian citizen and a student at the European University of Humanities in Vilnius.
After the incident, Brussels decided to ban Belarusian airlines from flying over the territory of the European Union.
Austrian Airlines is part of the German Lufthansa group.
Lufthansa AFP has confirmed that all its airlines are “currently avoiding Belarusian airspace”.
The planned flights to Moscow and St. Petersburg continue, Lufthansa said.
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