Canada orders two Russian planes out its airspace after they declared they were ‘humanitarian’ flights

From Vancouver Sun 🔗 link to source story

Until Sunday, Aeroflot operated multiple flights per day through Canadian airspace

Reuters • March 01, 2022 

Two Russian flights attempting to enter Canadian airspace on Monday were rerouted by the Federal Aviation Administration, after the planes identified themselves as “humanitarian” flights, Canadian air-traffic control service said.

Canada banned Russian planes from entering its airspace starting on Sunday as part of severe sanctions imposed on Moscow in response to its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

But the same day, an Aeroflot flight AFL111 violated the ban after declaring itself as a humanitarian flight. Under normal circumstances, Canada’s air-traffic control service NAV CANADA does not have the authority to deny airspace access to an aircraft declaring itself a humanitarian flight.

(2/2) We are launching a review of the conduct of Aeroflot and the independent air navigation service provider, NAVCAN, leading up to this violation. We will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action and other measures to prevent future violations.

— Transport Canada (@Transport_gc) February 28, 2022

The other Russian plane that attempted to enter Canadian airspace had departed from U.S. airports.

NAV CANADA along with regulator Transport Canada has issued a directive to all air traffic control units to deny all identifiable Russian airplanes access to their airspace. The only exception to this ban is a prior approval by Transport Canada.

In the event an emergency has been declared, NAV CANADA is required to direct the aircraft to land at the closest airport, and notifying the regulator.