According to a media report, China is blocking its airspace to Russian Boeing and Airbus aircraft. The ban affects machines whose legal status has not been clarified following Western sanctions and the re-registration in Russia, Russian news agency RBK reported yesterday. China has asked Russian airlines for proof that the planes are no longer registered abroad.
The backdrop is Western sanctions after the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The EU and US have banned the supply, maintenance and insurance of civil aircraft and spare parts to Russia due to the Kremlin-ordered invasion. Much of the air fleet operating in Russia is owned by Western leasing companies, which have laid off their Russian contractors. Moscow, on the other hand, refuses to return the planes and re-registers the machines without further ado.
China is said to have requested an update of the aircraft data in May. The country has asked Russian airlines flying to China to confirm that their aircraft are no longer officially listed abroad. The airlines could not have presented a corresponding document, the RBK reported. Landing and overflight permission for the corresponding Boeing and Airbus machines has been withdrawn.