Russia mulls overflight ban for European, US airlines

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday that Moscow is considering an overflight ban for European and US airlines to the Asia-Pacific region in retaliation for their sanctions targeting Russia's low-cost airline Dobrolet.

"We are considering measures that would be an answer to the European Union (EU) sanctions against Dobrolet," Xinhua quoted Medvedev as saying at a government session.

A number of retaliatory steps are "on the table", such as a ban on European and American airlines using Russian airspace for flights to the Asia-Pacific region, a media report said.

"Russia is also ready to revise the rules of using trans-Siberian routes, namely to denounce the agreed principles of upgrading the existing system of trans-Siberian routes," Medvedev said, adding that negotiations with US aviation authorities on the use of trans-Siberian routes will be cut off.

He also said that there are possibilities of changing entry and exit points in Russia's airspace for charter flights of European and American air carriers.

"These measures might not be introduced at once, but the Russian government might take them as response to sanctions imposed by the EU on Dobrolet, as such measures will significantly raise Western airlines' costs," he added.