“Perhaps China will reconsider whether to continue to allow its airlines to fly through Russian airspace, but my prediction is that economics will likely win in the end,” he said.
Richter added: “I still believe that most of Russia’s airspace is safe for international air travel.” “However, its western and southern edges are active areas for military air defense facilities of all kinds, and properly identifying these airspaces is not completely reliable” for incoming traffic. ”
European airline lobby A4E was more optimistic about the impact of this advisory.
“I cannot speak for non-EU airlines, but I trust that all airlines, not just A4E member airlines, will pay close attention to anything that raises safety and risk concerns. We are looking forward to it,” said Ourania Georgzakou, Managing Director of A4E.
“I think EASA will share these kinds of recommendations with its partners around the world,” she added.
Immediately after the Dec. 25 crash, some airlines, including Azerbaijan Airlines, Kazakhstan’s Kazak Airlines and Israel’s El Al, restricted flights to Russia. However, in the week since the EASA bulletin, no airline has said it will follow the agency’s recommendations.
Turkish Airlines, one of the airlines that continues to operate in Russia, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the EASA advisory.
