WithSenator Kosachev called incorrect the formulation of the question from the EC about flights over Siberia, the senator considered incorrect the very formulation of the issue of royalties for flights on trans-Siberian routes, since the West and Russia have imposed mutual restrictions. A similar payment system operates in other geographically large countries
Russia continued to charge for flights over Siberia, as Brussels did not allow Russian airlines on domestic flights of the European Union. This was stated by the Vice-speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev in his telegram channel.
“After joining the WTO [The World Trade Organization] Russia was ready to review the mechanism of trans-Siberian royalties, but the agreement between Russia and the EU has not entered into force. Brussels has not fulfilled its promise to allow Russian airlines on EU domestic flights,” Kosachev wrote.
Another reason, he said, was the EU’s decision to maintain a system of trading greenhouse gas quotas for aircraft. “This is fair, because foreign planes emit CO2 into our airspace, polluting the atmosphere,” the senator noted.
Kosachev also considered incorrect the very formulation of the question of the cancellation of payment for the right of passage on Trans-Siberian routes. As Kosachev explained, a similar practice is used in one form or another in other geographically large countries, for example in Canada or China. Russia directs royalties to the modernization of infrastructure, since its equipment is used when an aircraft flies over its territory.
The head of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation, Andrei Klishas, added that “the very statement of the question by “non-friends” that the European Commission is demanding something from Russia “sounds comical”. “Let them better say thank you to Russia that they can still fly over Ukraine,” Klishas summed up.
Henrik Hololey, head of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Transport, said earlier that if Russian airspace is reopened to European airlines, royalties for flights over Siberia should be canceled.
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After the start of the military operation in Ukraine, the EU, the USA and Canada closed their skies to Russian airlines. As a retaliatory measure, Russia has banned flights by planes from 36 countries without special permission from the Federal Air Transport Agency or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Foreign airlines flying between Europe and Asia use routes through Russia, flying over Siberia, to shorten the way. The fee for this has been charged since the 1970s, most of it is received by Aeroflot. In 2020, due to the pandemic, the airline lost about $250 million, Vedomosti wrote.
In early December, the head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), William Walsh, said that the West should reconsider its views and prepare for the resumption of flights through Russian airspace. According to him, in 2023, Chinese airlines will have an advantage over British Airways, whose flights may be delayed for several hours due to bypassing the Russian sky.
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