Russia advises its airlines not to fly abroad for fear of arrests

The Federal Agency for Air Transport (Rosaviatsiya) is advising its companies to stop all flights abroad till Sunday, 6 March, due to mass grounding of aeroplanes.

Interfax reports this with reference to Rosaviatsiya.

This recommendation concerns airlines that have aircraft registered in other countries under a lease agreement with foreign organisations. Such companies are advised to suspend the carriage of passengers and cargo abroad from 00:00 (time zone in Moscow) on 6 March.

Starting from midnight on 8 March, Russian airlines must stop carriage from abroad to Russian Federation temporarily.

This recommendation is due to ‘a high risk of detention or grounding of Russian airlines’  aircraft abroad’ – stated  Rosaviatsiya.

These restrictions do not apply to foreign airlines that have not joined sanctions and have not limited air traffic with the Russian Federation.

Almost all civil aircraft in Russian airlines’ parks are registered in Bermuda, Interfax mentions.