Germany-Russia flights resume after tit-for-tat cancellations

Airline companies said flights between Germany and Russia had resumed Wednesday evening, after each country blocked the other's incoming flights as part of the fall-out from tensions over Belarus. Lufthansa said that the Russian authorities had finally granted it clearance for passenger flights to Russia in June. "That means Lufthansa flights to Moscow and Saint Petersburg can be operated as planned," said a spokeswoman for the airline. In Russia, Mikhail Poluboyarinov, CE of Aeroflot told the TASS news agency: "Everything is fine, we have received all the authorisations." And another Russian airline, S7, said it too had received clearance for its flights to Germany, the Ria Novosti agency reported. Earlier Wednesday, Germany's transport ministry said it had blocked flights operated by Russian airlines from arriving in its territory after Moscow failed to provide authorisations for Lufthansa. Two Russia-bound Lufthansa flights due to depart earlier Wednesday from Germany had been cancelled because Russian authorities did not provide the necessary permits for them in time, the ministry said. "Due to the reciprocal practice, the Federal Aviation Authority also did not issue any further permits for flights operated by Russian airlines as long as authorisations are pending on the Russian side," it added.<br/>