Russia-Czech Republic route dispute cancels some flights

Aeroflot Airline and Ural Airlines were forced to cancel or delay flights to Prague July 2 because of an unsolved dispute over Trans-Siberian rights between Russia and the Czech Republic. “Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation unilaterally restricted Czech Airlines’ rights to fly over the Siberian part of the Russian Federation on the route between Prague and Seoul, which the Czech carrier has used for a long time. The Czech side considered this step as a violation of the existing arrangements and consequently reduced the rights of the Russian airlines in accordance with the 1966 Air Transport Agreement,” the Czech Transport Ministry said. Both Russian and Czech sides have issued temporary flight approval through July 7. <br/>