MOSCOW (Reuters) – Two Air France flights to Moscow were delayed on Monday because Russia has not issued permits for the passenger planes to fly, the RIA news agency reported.
Russia’s federal aviation agency Rosaviatsiya told airlines last week that changes to routes from Europe to Russia due to a political row over Belarus may result in longer clearance times.
The European Union has urged its airlines to avoid Belarus amid outrage over the forced landing of a Ryanair jet en route to Lithuania from Greece on May 23, and the arrest of a dissident journalist on board.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Kirsten Donovan)
