The Russian government has announced retaliatory measures against Ukrainian carriers, a week after Kiev announced it would bar Russian carriers from landing on its territory with effect from October 25.
Acting on a directive from Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's office, the Ministry said it had instructed the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) to inform all Ukrainian airlines planning to serve Russian airports post October 25 that their permissions had been revoked henceforth.
"This measure is a response, a mirror to the message the Ministry of Transport of Ukraine, which on September 28, unilaterally and in violation of existing rules and regulations on air traffic, notified a number of Russian air carriers that with effect from the the beginning of winter, namely from October 25, it would prohibit the performance of flights between Russia and Ukraine," it said.
Ukraine's embargo targeted Russia's Aeroflot (SU, Moscow Sheremetyevo), Saratov Airlines (Saratov Tsentralny), UTair (UT, Khanty-Mansiysk), Transaero Airlines (Moscow Vnukovo), and S7 Airlines (S7, Novosibirsk) while Russia's embargo affects Ukraine International Airlines (PS, Kyiv Boryspil), YanAir (YE, Kyiv Igor Sikorsky), and Dniproavia (Dnipro).
The move means that effective late October, no direct air links will exist between the two former Soviet republics.
