BERLIN, June 2. /TASS/. Germany says that flights from Germany to Russia and back were cancelled because Russia’s aviation transport authority did not timely provide flight permits to German airlines in June, prompting the German aviation authorities to cancel Russian flights based on the principle of reciprocity, spokesperson for the German Transport Ministry Simone Nieke told TASS on Wednesday.
"The Russian agency did not timely issue permits for Lufthansa flights in June so they were cancelled. Based on reciprocity, the Federal Aviation Office did not grant permits for flights of Russian airlines and would not do so until the relevant permits are issued by Russia," the spokesperson said. The agency cited this reason to explain why Aeroflot and S7 could not operate flights on June 1. "In total, we are talking about three cancelled Aeroflot flights yesterday and four today," she added.
The German ministry explained, "since the Russian side unilaterally suspended bilateral agreements on air travel in March 2020 in light of the coronavirus pandemic, the air travel between Germany and Russia were allowed on a reduced basis and partially on a monthly charter basis and under the principle of reciprocity."
Earlier, Lufthansa cancelled its flights to Moscow (LH1444/1445) and St. Petersburg (LH1436/1437) and back scheduled for Wednesday because the airline did not have relevant permits, Lufthansa told TASS. The airline did not specify what agencies or countries were to blame. The Tourdom portal pointed out that Aeroflot cancelled two flights to Germany, to Frankfurt and Hamburg, on June 1. Moreover, the German aviation authorities did not clear S7 to operate two cargo and passenger flights on June 1.