Germany-Russia flights resume after tit-for-tat cancellations

AFP | Berlin

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Airline companies said flights between Germany and Russia had resumed late Wednesday, after each country blocked the other’s incoming flights as part of the fall-out from tensions over Belarus. German airline Lufthansa told AFP that the Russian authorities had finally granted it clearance for passenger flights to Russia in June.

“That means Lufthansa flights to Moscow and Saint Petersburg can be operated as planned,” said a spokeswoman for the airline. In Russia, Mikhail Poluboyarinov, chief executive of Aeroflot told the TASS news agency: “Everything is fine, we have received all the authorisations.” And another Russian airline, S7, said it too had received clearance for its flights to Germany, the Ria Novosti agency reported.

Earlier Wednesday, Germany’s transport ministry said it had blocked flights operated by Russian airlines from arriving in its territory after Moscow failed to provide authorisations for Lufthansa.

Two Russia-bound Lufthansa flights due to depart earlier Wednesday from Germany had been cancelled because Russian authorities did not provide the necessary permits for them in time, the ministry said.