Russian airline Aeroflot violated Canadian airspace, officials say
Canada's ban was put in place on Sunday due to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine
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The Canadian government has accused Russia's flagship airline Aeroflot of violating a ban that restricts its flights from traveling through the country's airspace.
While Aeroflot does not offer direct flights to Canada, several of its flights travel through the country's airspace to the United States.
Airbus A321 from Russia's Aeroflot prepares to take off from Barcelona airport on Feb. 25, 2022. ((Photo by Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
The ban came in response to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
DELTA AIRLINES SUSPENDS CODE-SHARE AGREEMENT WITH RUSSIA'S AEROFLOT
Aeroflot Flight 111 departed from Miami to Moscow at 3:12 p.m. ET on Sunday, just hours after Canada's Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra officially declared the ban. Aeroflot declared itself a humanitarian flight as it entered Canada's airspace.
"Yesterday evening, Aeroflot flight 111 violated the prohibition on Russian flights using Canadian airspace," a spokesperson for Alghabra told FOX Business Monday. "Today, Minister Alghabra met with the CEO of Nav Canada, the independent air navigation service provider. Transport Canada is launching a review of the conduct of Aeroflot and the air navigation service provider leading up to this violation. We will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action and other measures to prevent future violations."
Representatives for Aeroflot and NAVCAN did not immediately return FOX Business' requests for comment.
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a tweet on Sunday that the European Union is planning to ban Russian planes from flying in EU airspace.
"They won’t be able to land in, take off or overfly the territory of the EU," she said. "Including the private jets of oligarchs."
In response, Russian aviation regulator Rosaviatsia has imposed flight restrictions on airlines from 36 countries as a "retaliatory measure." The affected countries are Albania, Anguilla, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, British Virgin Islands, Germany, Gibraltar, Hungary, Greece, Denmark, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Jersey, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
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Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines has suspended its code-share agreement with Aeroflot, which allows their customers to book seats on each other's flights. Delta does not operate services to Ukraine or Russia.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAL | DELTA AIR LINES INC. | 63.41 | -0.41 | -0.64% |
"We have removed our code from Aeroflot-operated services beyond Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport and removed Aeroflot’s code from Delta-operated services from Los Angeles and New York-JFK," the airline said in a statement Friday. "Accommodations will be made for customers affected by these changes."
The Federal Aviation Administration is also restricting U.S. airlines and pilots from traveling over Belarus, Ukraine and a portion of western Russia.