The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is recommending that aircraft operators avoid flights above an expanded area of Russian Federation airspace, cautioning that action by Russian air defense systems and Ukrainian drones and missiles could affect flight operations.
EASA issued a conflict zone information bulletin (CZIB) in January saying that the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine “poses the risk of civil aircraft being unintentionally targeted in the airspace of the Russian Federation due to possible civil-military coordination deficiencies and the potential for misidentification.”
The CZIB cited incidents in airspace that has not been closed by the Russian Federation during drone attacks or when air defense systems have been activated. The bulletin noted the Dec. 25, 2024, crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer ERJ 190 in Kazakhstan during a flight from Baku, …
