Moscow is pressing Washington to lift sanctions on Russian airlines

Moscow is pressuring the United States to open its airspace to Russian airlines, as part of the ceasefire agreement with Ukraine.

But there is a big problem in this plan, as the European Union is not enthusiastic, and without Europe’s support it will not be easy for Russian airlines to travel to the United States.

“The European Union sanctions are fixed against Russia, and it includes a ban on the flight of Russian airlines over the airspace of the European Union.”

In addition to the political decisions related to sanctions, the European Union official also referred to “major safety and security issues”, and the possibility of reopening the airspace of the European Union in front of Russian aircraft, as “it is not known whether the aircraft of Russian airlines and air traffic services have enjoyed proper maintenance over the past three years, which puts the authority of the Russian fleet of airline to a serious question.”

Since the Russian war on Ukraine, in February 2022, Russian airlines have been prevented from flying over the territory of the European Union and the United States, as well as from obtaining spare parts for aircraft from Western manufacturers such as “Boeing” and “Airbus”, and the Kremlin responded by preventing Western airlines from entering its air field.

Fake spare parts

“As a result, there is a high possibility that there will be a use of fake spare parts in the aircraft operating inside the Russian local market.” Said Sander Starfield, director of the Sige Faynish Consulting company, warning of the risks that threaten aviation safety.

He added that «allowing these planes to work commercially in Europe is not only not safe, but also risks the introduction of counterfeit spare parts into the union.

In practice, the reopening of Europe’s airspace to Russian airlines, such as the national airline «Iroflot», will cast a great burden on the European Union Air Safety Agency.

Starfeld stressed that the agency will be obligated to ensure that Russian aircraft enjoy a level of safety that is already equivalent to planes operating in the European Union, indicating that this process takes time, especially given the size of the work required.

He explained that in addition to safety and ratification issues, many Russian aircraft may not be able to land in Europe again, because they are not in fact Russian, but rather to aircraft rental companies that were seized after the war.

“Some aircraft may be confiscated as soon as they landed in Europe due to Russia’s universal decision to nationalize rented aircraft,” Starfield added, pointing to “the presence of huge debts due to Western rental companies,” expecting that it will try to recover the largest possible amount of assets.

Pressure from Moscow

Despite these problems, Russia is calling for direct flights to the United States as part of any ceasefire agreement.

The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, stated on April 11, that this step “must be the result of the lifting of sanctions by Iroflot”, and the Russian minister said: “The Americans have studied the matter, but we have not seen any step yet.”

It was reported that Russia asked Washington, last week, to allow it to purchase aircraft produced by Boeing, and paid its price from the assets of the Russian state frozen since the beginning of the war, provided that a ceasefire was reached.

So far, the administration of US President Donald Trump has not raised any sanctions on Russia, but some indicators give the Kremlin hope.

Last March, the President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia, Robert Agie, has publicly called for the lifting of sanctions on the aviation sector.

“Russia has a huge fleet of western aircraft, most of which are (Boeing), and we believe that we must provide spare parts and artistic support for them, so we will seek to lift these sanctions.” He added: “This is not a commercial desire as much as it is a human necessity, so ordinary citizens suffer primarily.”

Similar steps

Any American effort to reduce the restrictions imposed on Russian airlines would increase the pressure on European airlines to take similar steps, and the latter has always complained about the additional cost to avoid the wide Russian airspace when traveling to Asia, which gave Chinese airlines an advantage.

Despite these competitive concerns, Brussels shows a caution of entering into negotiations with Moscow on reaching its air field, partly due to the unsafe nature of the Russian atmosphere.

An official at the European Commission described the security of the Russian airspace as “problematic”, citing the crash of a aircraft of the Azerbaijani Airlines on Christmas, after it was hit by an alleged Russian air defense missile, prompting the European Aviation Safety Agency to advise airlines to avoid flying throughout western Russia, and Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the incident, but he did not hold Russia.

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Missing markets

Russia has a huge fleet of Western aircraft, most of which are Boeing. Reuters

Last January, the European Union Safety Agency issued a new warning to non -European airlines regarding flying within the western air fields of Russia, due to the risk of unintentionally targeting it by Russian air defense systems.

The Russian Civil Aviation Authority condemned this warning, considering it a new imposition of sanctions on Russian companies, and an attempt to enable Western airlines to restore their lost markets.

The European Aviation Safety Agency reported that the Azerbaijani Airlines plane crashes, after Russian air defenses fired on Ukrainian drones, showing the large potential risks, and at least 38 people were killed in the accident.

The agency added: “The conflict in the wake of the Russian -Ukrainian war is the risk of unintentionally targeting civilian aircraft in the airspace of the Russian Federation, given the possibility of a deficiency in coordination between the civil and military authorities, and the possibility of an error in identifying identity.”

The agency recommended not to fly within the airspace of the Russian Federation, which is located in the west of the length line, 60 degrees in all heights and flight levels.

This warning was directed to airlines from other countries, which are licensed by the European Aviation Safety Agency, given the closure of the Russian airspace in front of European Union companies, since the Union imposed sanctions related to Ukraine targeting the Russian aviation sector.

Meanwhile, the Russian Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that the safety of aviation is its maximum priority, and that this recommendation is unjustified.

The agency wrote on the application of “Telegram”: “This recommendation is only a continuation of the policy of sanctions imposed by Western countries on the aviation sector in the Russian Federation.” She added that «the European Aviation Safety Agency seeks to ensure that the number of Asian airlines has been reduced to the European Union destinations using the Siberia road». She continued: “The European Aviation Safety Agency, through this recommendation, is trying to simply restore its missing competitive advantage of its companies.”

In statements to Reuters, last month, four sources familiar with the initial results to achieve the crash of the Azerbaijani Airlines plane said that the Russian air defenses were accidentally shot down.

. It is not known whether Russian aircraft and air traffic services have enjoyed proper maintenance over the past three years.