European Regulator Issues Warning Against Flying Over Western Russia

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has advised against all flight operations within five Russian airspace regions west of the 60°E longitude – on which the cities of Ekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk lie – at all altitudes and flight levels.

This latest conflict-zone information bulletin (CZIB) warning encompasses five Russian flight information and control regions covering: Moscow, St Petersburg, Samara, Ekaterinburg, and Rostov-on-Don.

Russian airspace is already closed to EU airlines as part of the sanctions regime imposed following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The new alert is aimed at third-country operators currently authorized by EASA.

Azerbaijan Airlines, which operated the Embraer E190 involved in the Dec. 25 crash at Aktau in Kazakhstan, is one of the carriers listed by EASA that has been granted third-country approval. The E190 apparently sustained damage in the vicinity of Grozny in Chechnya before diverting to Kazakhstan and crashing.

EASA states that its revised conflict-zone bulletin is valid at least until July 31. The CZIB reads:

“It is important to note that no [EU] airlines currently fly to, from or over the airspace of the Russian Federation. However, a number of third-country carriers continue to do so, despite the war-related risks.”

These include commercial carriers from Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkey and the UAE.

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The bulletin says the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues to present a risk of unintentional attack on civil aircraft:

“Activation of Russian air-defense systems, capable of operating at all altitudes, in response to Ukrainian missile and drone launches, which have extended deep inside Russian territory, may have a direct impact on flight operations at several locations, including major international airports.”

It underlines the threat by adding: “Most of the incidents have occurred in airspace not closed by the Russian Federation during drone attacks or the activation of its air-defense systems.”

It also adds that much of the affected regions are also experiencing interference to satellite-based navigation systems

EASA says the Azerbaijan E-190 event illustrates the “high risk” to flight operations. While the accident investigation is officially still ongoing informed sources are in no doubt that the cause of the crash was the “inadvertent” shooting down by Russian air defenses with passengers reporting having heard a loud bang outside the plane before it was diverted.

The E-190 was flying from the Azerbaijan capital Baku and was inbound to Grozny when it was forced to divert but crashed en route to Aktau; 38 of the 67 people on board died. Azerbaijan Airlines has since suspended several routes to Russian cities, with flights to Kazan being the latest to be halted.

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to Azerbaijan’s leader for what he called a “tragic incident,” three days after the crash, without accepting that any military action by Russian forces caused the crash.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev criticized Russia’s handling of the incident, accusing its agencies of promoting “absurd versions” of events and blamed Russia for failing to close the airspace over Grozny. He said the poor level of coordination between its military and civil aviation agencies had contributed to the tragedy.

EASA shares Aliyev’s view and says that Russian airspace management authorities have regularly failed to demonstrate “full proficiency” to address risks through an “efficient and pro-active approach” to de-confliction.

“As a result, there are limited mitigating factors on which air operators can rely at present,” it says.