Russia prohibits Austrian Airlines flight to arrive without entering Belarusian airspace
The Austrian Airlines flight wanted to change its route to avoid Belarus, but Russia rejected this, the airline said. Meanwhile, Belarusian national airline Belavia canceled flights to eight countries.
Flight OS601 from Vienna was scheduled to arrive in Moscow on time, but the board at Domodedovo airport listed the flight as canceled. Earlier, the airline had refused to transit through Belarusian airspace on the way to Moscow. The European Union has urged its airlines to avoid Belarus and its airspace following Sunday's forced landing in Minsk of a Ryanair plane and the arrest of dissident journalist Raman Pratasevich.
A representative of Austrian Airlines told the Interfax news agency that the new flight route needed to be confirmed with the authorities.
"The Russian authorities have not given us this permission," the spokeswoman was quoted as saying in the Russian-language report.
