Photo: Facebook/Aeroflot
The U.S. ban on Russian aircraft won’t have a significant negative impact on American passenger and cargo flights, compared to the European ones, but it will cause some delays. On the other hand, although this ban is described as “symbolic,” together with economic sanctions and other measures, it will paralyze Russia’s commercial aviation.
The ban of Russian aircraft from the U.S. airspace went into effect on Wednesday after President Joe Biden announced it in his State of the Union address. The U.S. Department of Transportation and its Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has suspended operations of all aircraft that are owned, operated, or controlled by Russian entities and citizens. This includes all passenger, cargo, and charter flights.
Russia’s flagship airline, Aeroflot, will be most impacted since it will have to reroute flights to exotic destinations, which implies flying over the U.S. and Canadian airspace. But this might be a small issue for the country’s commercial aviation, compared to the fact that it already lost access to maintenance and technical support services for its fleet after Boeing, Airbus, and G.E. have suspended these services for all airlines in the country. Added to the economic sanctions, this will effectively block the nation’s aviation industry.
U.S. airlines that had been flying over the Russian airspace to destinations in Asia had already chosen to reroute before the conflict in Ukraine started, so a potential ban issued by Kremlin, as a response to the U.S. decision, won’t change too much.
Ian Petchenik of FlightRadar24 (a flight tracking service) told the National Public Radio (NPR) that some American airlines will have to deal with increased costs due to burning more fuel and flying over longer periods of time as a result of rerouting. But the impact won’t be severe, especially since the frequency of international flights had already dropped because of the pandemic.
As of Wednesday, any aircraft operators who violate the ban announced by the U.S. face the risk of being intercepted and their pilots detained. Canada’s aviation authority is currently investigating a violation of its ban, which Aeroflot had declared as a “humanitarian mission.”
Russia’s flagship airline, Aeroflot, will be most impacted since it will have to reroute flights to exotic destinations, which implies flying over the U.S. and Canadian airspace. But this might be a small issue for the country’s commercial aviation, compared to the fact that it already lost access to maintenance and technical support services for its fleet after Boeing, Airbus, and G.E. have suspended these services for all airlines in the country. Added to the economic sanctions, this will effectively block the nation’s aviation industry.
U.S. airlines that had been flying over the Russian airspace to destinations in Asia had already chosen to reroute before the conflict in Ukraine started, so a potential ban issued by Kremlin, as a response to the U.S. decision, won’t change too much.
Ian Petchenik of FlightRadar24 (a flight tracking service) told the National Public Radio (NPR) that some American airlines will have to deal with increased costs due to burning more fuel and flying over longer periods of time as a result of rerouting. But the impact won’t be severe, especially since the frequency of international flights had already dropped because of the pandemic.
As of Wednesday, any aircraft operators who violate the ban announced by the U.S. face the risk of being intercepted and their pilots detained. Canada’s aviation authority is currently investigating a violation of its ban, which Aeroflot had declared as a “humanitarian mission.”
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