Experts saw no threats to civil aviation under the EU sanctions package

The European Union's (EU) sanctions pressure will not affect the operation of Russian airports and airlines, experts interviewed told Izvestia on February 24.

As part of the 16th package of sanctions, the EU has banned any operations with some Russian airports that Brussels believes are "used for the transfer of drones and related technologies and components." These are Vnukovo and Zhukovsky airports, as well as four regional airports: Koltsovo (Yekaterinburg), Begishevo in Naberezhnye Chelny, and airports in Perm and Pskov. Brussels will also impose sanctions against airlines from third countries that operate domestic flights within Russia.

The Novaport holding company, which develops and organizes the work of regional airports, refused to comment to Izvestia. Other airports did not respond to the editorial board's request.

"At the moment Russia is connected by air routes only with friendly countries. We do not fly to the EU, so the route network will not shrink," aviation expert-analyst Alexander Terentyev told Izvestia.

The airports have conducted an import substitution program, so the sanctions pressure is limited. Operational activities will not be affected in any way, the analyst believes.

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"Airlines from friendly countries will ignore EU sanctions in the future, as before. Whether the new package of sanctions will be able to influence the choice of, for example, Turkish Airlines flying to Vnukovo - I do not dare to judge. Most likely, Turkey will have enough opportunities to defend the interests of its national carrier," said Oleg Panteleyev, executive director of AviaPort, an aviation expert.

Those who refused to cooperate with Russia for political reasons will continue to wait for the sanctions to be lifted. Those who worked with Russia, including using various schemes, will continue the partnership, the expert believes.

"In the summer of 2025, at the peak of the vacation season, there may be a shortage of flights. Therefore, aviation authorities allowed foreigners to engage in cabotage, that is, to perform domestic flights inside Russia. The EU sanctions are aimed at preventing this mechanism," Roman Gusarov, editor-in-chief of the Avia.ru portal and aviation expert, told Izvestia.

However, even without these measures, airlines from friendly countries do not show much interest in the Russian market. So far there are none on the domestic market of the Russian Federation. Against the backdrop of the post-Kovidna recovery of global transportation, they have somewhere to use their planes, the expert believes.

Earlier in the day it was reported that the foreign ministers of the European Union approved the 16th package of sanctions against Russia. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the EU's anti-Russian sanctions are not working, while things are "getting worse" in Western Europe.

Before that, on December 16, 2024, Maxim Chirkov, associate professor at the Department of Economic Policy and Economic Measurements of the State University of Management Sciences, told Izvestia that citizens and companies in Europe are feeling the consequences of the suicidal anti-Russian sanctions policy. In his opinion, the decline of the EU economies will last for years.