PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th May, 2021) The Air France flight from Paris to Moscow, scheduled for Friday, was canceled after the carrier received no permit from Russia, a spokesperson for the French airline told Sputnik on Thursday.
On Thursday morning, the Air France AF1154 flight to Moscow was canceled over absence of the permit from the Russian authorities to reroute the flight to bypass the Belarusian airspace.
"Tomorrow's flight is canceled. The reason for the cancellation of the flight is the same [the lack of a new permit from the Russian side], " the spokesperson said, confirming the suspension of the second flight operated by Air France.
According to the carrier, the company's flights to Moscow, which are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, are still on the list.
They also noted that passengers of two canceled flights can either return the money for the ticket or postpone the journey to another date.
"Or if there are seats, we can offer them [passengers] an Aeroflot flight," the airline said.
On Sunday, an Irish airline Ryanair traveling from Greece to Lithuania had to make an emergency landing in Belarus' Minsk over a bomb threat, which turned out to be fake. One of its passengers, Roman Protasevich, the founder of a Telegram channel that Minsk has designated as extremist, was detained during the stopover at the airport.
On Monday, the European Union suspended the flights of Belarussian airplanes and recommended European carriers to avoid flights over Belarus as well as urging new sanctions on the country.
