The carriers’ request is related to the fact that Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Eritrea, and Yemen refused to allow Russian planes through their airspace to Egypt.
After closing Jordanian airspace to planes from the Russian Federation, Russian airlines flying to Egypt asked Rosavia to lift the ban on flights through Syria, which was imposed almost a decade ago because of the war in the country.
As The Moscow Times writes, the carriers’ request is connected with Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Eritrea, and Yemen refused to allow Russian planes with dual registration into their airspace. In particular, NordWind and its affiliates Ikara and iFly have had problems.
It is noted that in April 2013, Rosaviatsia banned flights over Syria due to reports of a threat of missile attack on the NordWind plane, which was on its way from Egypt to Kazan. Rosaviatsia has already applied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation on this issue and received approval there. However, the decision has yet to be agreed upon with the Russian Ministry of Defense.
According to the publication, if the carriers do not have permission to fly through Syria, they will have no other options, says the vice president of the Russian Union of the Tourism Industry Dmytro Gorin. This will lead to “adjustment of flight prices”, he believes. There will also be difficulties with the return of approximately 3,000 Russians from Egypt.
Consequences of the war in Ukraine for Russian airlines
After Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, many countries around the world imposed harsh sanctions against Russian civil aviation.
In particular, several countries have closed their airspace to Russian airlines, and many of the world’s air carriers have stopped flying to Russia. In addition, the validity of certificates of the suitability of aircraft of Russian airlines was suspended.
There were also problems with the insurance of planes of Russian airlines.