Aviation sector: Russia and Belarus face harder restrictions

The UK government said on 19 May that it is introducing new sanctions against the Russian aviation sector: ‘State-owned Aeroflot, Russia’s largest airline, Ural Airlines and Rossiya Airlines will now be unable to sell their unused, lucrative landing slots at UK airports – preventing Russia from cashing in on an estimated £50 million.’

The government said that Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, will be assuming the presidency of the International Transport Forum (‘ITF’, an intergovernmental platform that sits within Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and ‘acts as a think tank for transport policy’), and that he will ‘use [the presidency] to call for a united response against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.’

On 4 May, the ITF said its 64 member countries ‘adopted a package of measures that restrict the participation of Russia and Belarus in the ITF in response to the invasion of Ukraine.’

These, it said, ‘specifically restrict the participation of Russia and Belarus in ITF research and the organisation’s Annual Summit. Among the measures are:

• The Russian Federation and Belarus will not be included in ITF research projects and the Bureau of the Transport Research Committee that oversees them.
• ITF work will not include analysis or research on the Russian Federation or Belarus.
• Data, policy analysis and reports on the Russian Federation or Belarus will not be included in communications by the ITF.
• The ITF Secretariat is requested to refuse voluntary contributions from the Russian Federation or Belarus.
• The events of the ITF’s Annual Summit – with the exception of the statutory Council of Ministers of Transport (closed session) – will not include participation of the Russian Federation or Belarus. This includes Summit events organised by stakeholders.’