Russia approves new route for Air France flights to Moscow

[May 29, 2021]    MOSCOW/PARIS (Reuters) - Russia has approved a new route for Air France flights between Paris and Moscow avoiding Belarusian airspace, initially just for this weekend, a spokesman for the French airline said on Saturday.

An Air France Airbus A350 airplane lands at the Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Roissy, near Paris, France April 2, 2021. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has advised domestic and foreign airlines to avoid Belarusian air space this week following the forced landing in Minsk of a Ryanair jet en route to Lithuania from Greece, and the arrest of a dissident journalist on board, on May 23.

"This new flight path enters into application today. We have authorizations for this weekend and are awaiting a green light from Russian authorities for our flights after this weekend," the Air France spokesman said.

Air France, which is part of the wider Air France-KLM group, operates one or two flights a day between Paris and Moscow.

(Reporting by Polina Ivanova and Matthias Blamont Editing by Angus MacSwan and David Holmes)

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