Airlines face ‘high risk’ flying over Russia: EU

PARIS: The downing of an Azerbaijan Airlines airplane shows that flying over Russia poses a “high risk” to civilian flights amid the war in Ukraine, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency said on Friday.

The EASA said in a safety bulletin that the conflict “poses the risk of civil aircraft being unintentionally targeted in the airspace of the Russian Federation, due to possible civil-military coordination deficiencies, and the potential for misidentification”.

The agency renewed its recommendation for airlines to avoid flying over western Russian airspace. Russia has banned EU airlines from flying over its airspace but those from China, Turkiye, Gulf states and other countries are still authorised.