MOSCOW, August 7 (RIA Novosti) – Russia has decided to ban all transit flights across the country for Ukrainian carriers and may change entry and exit points in its airspace for European and American flights, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday.
“Russia will cancel all transit flights for Ukrainian airlines through its airspace into Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey,” Medvedev said during a government meeting.
Medvedev also said Russia is examining the rules of trans-Siberian routes used by the EU as a whole, and will halt discussions with the United States on its use.
“Russia is ready to examine the rules of using trans-Siberian routes; that is denouncing the agreed principles of modernizing the current system of using the trans-Siberian routes. For the governments of the European Union this review may be in its entirety, and in regard to the US authorities we will halt all talks on the issue of using trans-Siberian routes,” Medvedev said.
On Wednesday, European airlines' shares fell by 3 percent amid reports on Russia’s possible response to Western sanctions after its low-cost carrier Dobrolet was included on the EU sanctions blacklist unveiled in late July for flying to the former Ukrainian republic of Crimea.
Dobrolet, a subsidiary of Russia’s flag carrier and largest airline Aeroflot, said it had to temporarily suspend all flights.
One possible response to the EU’s sanctions against Dobrolet could lead to the introduction of a number of limitations that could be used immediately but are “still on the table,” Medvedev said Thursday.
“This [could be a] ban on using the airspace of our country for transit flights for European and American airlines in the regions of eastern Asia, that is to the Asia-Pacific region,” he said.
This announcement came two days after the Russian prime minister proposed to devise response measures to Western restrictions, with President Vladimir Putin later saying he had instructed the government to retaliate against Western sanctions.
Medvedev explained that “tough measures” could hurt the revenues of multiple air carriers.
Russia’s Acting Tourism Minister Oleg Safronov said earlier that transit flights to Southeast Asia through the Russian territory were the best option for European airlines in terms of efficiency. He added altered air traffic regulations were most likely to increase ticket prices for companies that deal with European air carriers.
