February 28 – Two Russian flights trying to enter Canadian airspace on Monday were diverted by the Federal Aviation Administration after the planes identified themselves as “humanitarian” flights, the Canadian Air Traffic Control said.
Canada has banned Russian planes from entering its airspace since Sunday as part of heavy sanctions imposed on Moscow in response to its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Read more
But on the same day, Aeroflot’s AFL111 (AFLT.MM) violated the ban after declaring itself a humanitarian flight. Under normal circumstances, the Canadian Air Traffic Control Service NAV CANADA does not have the authority to deny access to the airspace of an aircraft that is declared a humanitarian flight.
I’m registering
Other Russian planes trying to enter Canadian airspace took off from US airports.
NAV CANADA, together with the regulator Canada Canada, has issued a directive to all air traffic control units to deny access to all recognizable Russian aircraft to their airspace. The only exception to this ban is the prior approval of Transport Canada.
In the event of a state of emergency, NAV CANADA is obliged to direct the aircraft to land at the nearest airport and notify the regulator.
I’m registering
Report by Rahna Dhanrajani and Deni Thomas; Edited by Michael Perry
Our standards: ‘ principles of trust.