Such a measure was advocated by American carriers, who had previously lost the opportunity to fly through Russian airspace. They believe that those who have retained such a right have received a “significant competitive advantage,” The New York Times reported. Officially, the US authorities do not comment on this idea, but the readiness of the document was confirmed by three sources of the publication at once.
When is the ban planned?
According to Marley Collier, spokesman for the Airlines for America lobby group, they are demanding “measures should be taken to ensure that foreign carriers flying over Russia do not take off, land, or transit through American airports.” Otherwise, companies gain advantages in such large markets as China and India.
However, US officials are also thinking about political risks, which may be more important than even the losses of national air carriers. After all, restrictions on foreign airlines can have consequences in relations with the two largest in terms of population and politically important countries in the world. The US State Department said it considers the safety of citizens in other countries a key priority when developing restrictions. In any case, the timing of the introduction of measures has not yet been announced.
Why Western planes don’t fly through Russia
The United States and EU countries closed the skies to Russian aircraft shortly after the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine. In response, the Russian Federation banned flights over its territory to companies from more than 30 countries, including European and American ones.
How many Americans are losing
After the ban on flights over Russian territory, the duration of flights to Asia and the fuel consumption of American airlines increased. Carriers had to change the schedule of flights and reduce the maximum number of passengers and the volume of cargo.
It happens that American carriers deliberately leave dozens of tickets for flights unsold so that there is enough fuel for a longer distance. The cost of the market share that the Americans are losing because of this state of affairs, the local aviators estimated at $ 2 billion annually.
Earlier it was told about the problems of other Western air carriers. For example, the British Virgin Atlantic canceled flights to Hong Kong, the duration of the Air France flight from Paris to Tokyo reached 14 hours, Finnair flies from Helsinki to the Japanese capital in 13.5 hours instead of 9.5 hours earlier, which requires the presence of an additional pilot. Finland also complained about the loss of €1.5 million a month due to the fact that Russia does not pay navigation fees for flights to Kaliningrad.
