MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. The Russian Federal Agency for Air Transport and the Foreign Ministry are working on settling the problem with restrictions on flights over Jordan for a number of domestic air carriers, according to a statement by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova published on Monday.
"Due to restrictions imposed by the aviation authorities of Jordan under the pressure of the European Commission" some Russian airlines carrying tourists from Russia to Egyptian resorts and back are forced to postpone flights and create alternative flight routes, the diplomat noted.
"Rosaviatsiya and the Russian Foreign Ministry are undertaking efforts aimed at solving this problem. That said, we assume that Jordan is a country friendly to Russia, and we do not consider the decision taken by Amman as a politically motivated one or aimed against the interests of our country," the statement reads.
Moscow fully observes its obligations in the area of security of flights, particularly in accordance with the intergovernmental agreement on air service between Russia and Jordan dated 2009, Zakharova stressed.
"We suggest that the concerns of our partners regarding the security of Russian aircraft that have all the necessary documents for transit flights through Jordan’s airspace, including insurance contracts extended according to the ICAO’s recommendations, will be lifted," she concluded.
On December 15, all iFly airline flights from Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport to Egypt were canceled due to restrictions in Jordan’s airspace. Russia’s Air Transport Agency recommended that other carriers take the company’s passengers. Meanwhile, iFly itself tried to change its route and fly over Syria. On the following day iFly said it was canceling its flights to Egypt until at least December 19, and plans to resume them on December 20.