Russian airline Aeroflot has violated a ban on entering Canadian airspace on February 27, 2022, the country’s transport regulator, Transport Canada said.
The alleged violation occurred on the same day when Canada’s Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra tweeted that Canada is closing its airspace to all Russian aircraft operators.
Details https://t.co/gJLgUJirrT
— Omar Alghabra (@OmarAlghabra) February 27, 2022
“The Government of Canada is prohibiting the operation of Russian-owned, chartered or operated aircraft in Canadian airspace, including in the airspace above Canada’s territorial waters. This airspace closure is effective immediately and will remain until further notice,” Transport Canada said in a release dated February 27, 2022.
On the same day, Transport Canada said in a tweet, “We are aware that Aeroflot flight 111 violated the prohibition put in earlier today on Russian flights using Canadian airspace.”
(1/2) We are aware that Aeroflot flight 111 violated the prohibition put in place earlier today on Russian flights using Canadian airspace.
— Transport Canada (@Transport_gc) February 28, 2022
According to real-time aircraft tracker FlightRadar24, Flight SU 111 was flying from Miami, Florida to Moscow and took off at 15:12 local time. While Aeroflot does not offer direct flights to Canada, several of its flights travel through the country’s airspace to the United States.
“We are launching a review of the conduct of Aeroflot and the independent air navigation service provider, NAVCAN, leading up to this violation,” Transport Canada continued.
“We will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action and other measures to prevent future violations.”
The UK and the European Union have also banned entry of all Russian aircraft in its airspace.
Aeroflot has not immediately responded to AeroTime’s request for a statement regarding Flight 111.