Return flights: Aeroflot will fly to Geneva and Munich on Sunday
Many Russians are stranded in Europe. They will bring back Aeroflot with special flights – also from Switzerland and Germany.
European airspace is closed to Russian aircraft. But there are exceptions. This is demonstrated not only by the example of an Ilyushin Il-76 TD from Volga-Dnepr transporting nuclear fuel from Russia to Slovakia. A Boeing 737-800 was en route from Rossiya to Sofa on Thursday. And on Friday (March 4) an Aeroflot Airbus A321 could be seen in the skies over central Europe. He steered as flight SU7030 from Moscow via Belarus, Poland and Slovakia to Budapest.
At the same time as the machine with the registration number VP-BKJ, a Boeing 777 of the Russian national airline was also traveling in airspace that was actually forbidden. The aircraft, registration VQ-BQF, flew to Larnaca in Cyprus via Georgia and Turkey. These are special flights that bring back Russian citizens stranded abroad.
It needs the okay of the countries
Aeroflot announced the return flights in the middle of the week. And the airline is planning more – also to Germany and Switzerland. On Sunday (March 6) they will fly Russians back to Moscow from Geneva on flight number SU7031. And under SU7323 she is planning a flight from Munich to Moscow. Paris and Amsterdam are also on the list.
Aeroflot says they are working with the Rosaviatsiya Aviation Authority to operate the flights. The prerequisite, however, is approval by the countries in Europe. And it is questionable whether Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands and France classify return flights as humanitarian. Even the overflight of other states must be approved.
Various stranded Aeroflot jets
After the airspace closure was declared, several Russian airline planes were stranded in Europe. For example, Aeroflot’s Airbus A321 with the registration number VP-BOE has been stuck in Geneva since Sunday. The A320 with the registration number VP-BET is in Munich.