Russia has been promoting the idea of opening US airspace to Russian airlines as part of a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine. Meanwhile, these efforts have faced resistance from the EU.

Source: Politico; European Pravda

Details: Politico noted that the EU is not interested in lifting aviation sanctions on Russia and it will be difficult for Russian carriers to fly to the US without Europe's participation.

"First, EU sanctions stand firm against Russia, which includes a ban on Russian airlines flying over EU airspace," a European Commission official said on condition of anonymity.

In addition to political decisions regarding sanctions, the EU official also pointed to "major safety and security issues" related to the possible opening of EU airspace to Russian aircraft.

They stated that "it is not known if Russian air operators and air traffic services have been properly maintained over the past three years, putting the airworthiness of the Russian fleet seriously in question".

Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, aircraft of Russian airlines have been banned from landing in and flying over the territories of the EU and the US.

Russia has also been cut off from access to spare parts for Western-manufactured aircraft such as Boeing and Airbus.

Meanwhile, Russia is demanding the restoration of direct air travel with the US as part of any ceasefire agreement.

In particular, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated on 11 April that such a step "should be a consequence of the lifting of sanctions on Aeroflot".

"The Americans considered it, [but] so far we have not seen any reciprocal step," he said.

It was also reported that Russia had approached Washington with a request to allow it to purchase aircraft from the US Boeing manufacturer and pay for them using Russian state assets frozen since the beginning of the full-scale war, provided a ceasefire regime is achieved.

Any steps to ease restrictions for US and Russian air carriers would create pressure on European airlines, which have long complained about additional costs due to the need to avoid Russian airspace on flights to Asia. This gives an advantage to Chinese carriers.

However, despite these considerations, Brussels is in no hurry to enter into talks with Moscow on access to European airspace, particularly due to the dangers of flying over Russian territory.

Background : 

• A European Commission representative described the safety of Russian airspace as "problematic", referring to the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines flight, likely caused by a strike from a Russian Pantsir-S air defence system
• Earlier, Bloomberg reported that US proposals for a "peace deal" between Russia and Ukraine also included the easing sanctions against Russia in the event of a long-term ceasefire and excludes discussions on Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO.

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