Russian transportation ministry proposes giving FSB right to cancel international flights run by Russian airlines

Russia’s transportation ministry has developed new regulations on international flights for Russian airlines. According to the business newspaper Kommersant, the proposed rules would mandate that Russia’s federal aviation agency cancel any international flights run by Russian airlines that the FSB deems to be “a threat to the security of the Russian Federation.” The new regulations would also require airlines to send detailed data about international flights run by Russian companies, including data on the nationalities of passengers and schedules of aerial border crossings. Airlines that refuse to provide that data more than once would be prohibited from making international flights for a set period of time. Kommersant’s sources indicated that the proposed rules were the result of a three-year FSB lobbying effort to increase Russia’s regulation of international flights.