MOSCOW, July 27. /TASS/. A NATO Bombardier Challenger 650 Artemis II reconnaissance and target acquisition aircraft has been flying over neutral waters in the southern Black Sea for more than six hours, setting a record for NATO’s aircraft flights in the area, a source in the EU air traffic control services told TASS.

"The aircraft took off from its base airfield in Constanta, Romania at about 9:00 a.m. Moscow time (6:00 a.m. GMT) and has been operating over neutral waters in the southern part of the Black Sea for more than six hours," the source said. He noted that the aircraft as a rule circles the sea two or three times and then returns to its home airfield, which takes approximately two to three hours. According to him, the aircraft’s flight for more than six hours in this area is "quite a rare occurrence." Moreover, the aircraft turns around not over Romania, as usual, but over neutral waters in the airspace sector controlled by Bulgaria and Turkey.

"The Bombardier Artemis II aircraft is navigating at an altitude of nearly 11 km from west to east and back, not entering the airspace of any littoral countries, except Romania from where it took of and where it will land," the source said. He did not specify what might be the reason for the reconnaissance aircraft’s unusually long operation, but recalled that the aircraft had been spotted in the Black Sea several times over the past month.

In particular, its flight was recorded in the area on Wednesday and Friday, July 22 and July 24. In addition, on Thursday, July 23, the aircraft was spotted in the area of Russia’s Kaliningrad Region round which is flew several times, using the Lithuanian and Polish airspace, as well as over neutral waters of the Baltic Sea.