Kyiv has banned 21 Russian airlines, including Aeroflot and Transaero, from flying to Ukraine. Russia is preparing retaliatory measures. Losses for carriers in both countries will amount to tens of millions of dollars.

Photo: Ekaterina Kuzmina / RBC

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, by decision of the National Security Council, decided to ban Russian airlines from flying to Ukrainian airports, said Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk. This was reported by the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers. “Russian planes with Russian tricolors have nothing to do at Ukrainian airports,” the press service quotes Yatsenyuk.

The ban was supposed to come into force on September 25, the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine said in a statement, citing the State Aviation Service. The agency has already begun informing airlines that are prohibited from flying to Ukraine, and expected to complete this process by the end of Friday, September 25.

Ukraine has imposed sanctions on 21 Russian airlines that fly to Crimea, despite the ban by Ukrainian authorities. The presidential decree on the implementation of the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine was published on September 16. The sanctions included both companies flying to Ukraine (Aeroflot, Transaero, S7 and UTair) and those not flying to its territory (Red Wings, VIM-Avia and Ak Bars Aero). All companies listed in the decree are subject to restrictions on “partial or complete cessation of the transit of resources, flights and transportation across the territory of Ukraine.”

Aeroflot has not yet received notification of the suspension of flights from the Ukrainian aviation authorities, a company representative told RBC on the evening of September 25. If such notification is received, the carrier will notify passengers, he added. The press service of Transaero did not respond to RBC's request, the S7 representative was unavailable for comments, and the UTair representative refused to comment.

Aeroflot flies 35 times a week from Moscow to Kyiv, Transaero - 22, S7 and UTair - 14 each, according to data from the Federal Air Transport Agency. Aeroflot flies to Odessa (21 times a week), Transaero and S7 (once each), and only UTair flies to Lviv (seven times). Rossiya Airlines flies seven times a week from St. Petersburg to Kyiv.

The Ukrainian national carrier Ukraine International Airlines flies 13 times a week from Kyiv to Moscow and St. Petersburg, three times a week to Kaliningrad and five times a week from Odessa to Moscow.

Flights of the Ukrainian airline may also cease: on September 25, Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov warned that Russian authorities would be forced to take “mirror” measures if Ukrainian sanctions against carriers come into force (quoted by Interfax). “We understand that this will actually lead to a halt in air traffic between countries. And first of all, the citizens of Ukraine will suffer from this. But I would like to emphasize that in the current situation, the Russian side is being forced to take this step by the actions of the Ukrainian authorities,” the official said.

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In mid-September, the general director of the consulting company Infomost, Boris Rybak, estimated the losses of Russian airlines from the cessation of flights to Ukraine at tens of millions of dollars a year. “Ukraine International Lines” is more accurate. Last week, the company said losses from Russian sanctions would cost it $42 million a year. In addition, losses from the downtime of three UIA aircraft flying to Russia will amount to another $10 million per year.

Airlines will lose tens of millions from the ban on flights to Ukraine