Canada tightens ban on Russian aircraft to include humanitarian flights

The federal government says it has tightened rules for Russian aircraft after a commercial airliner was able to circumvent a ban on entering Canadian airspace late last month by falsely claiming to be a humanitarian flight. Aeroflot Flight 111 was allowed to traverse Canadian airspace en route from Miami to Moscow on Feb. 27 despite Ottawa having banned all Russian aircraft earlier that day in retaliation for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Officials have previously said Aeroflot 111 was allowed into Canadian airspace because it had registered as a humanitarian flight, a designation that Transport Canada's head of civil aviation suggested on Monday was deliberately falsified. While the department is continuing to investigate, Nicholas Robinson told the House of Commons transport committee that officials believed Aeroflot used the humanitarian designation to "circumvent" Canada's flight ban. "Humanitarian flights are for emergency purposes," Robinson said. "And in this instance, we don't see that. This action by Aeroflot is one that we're continuing to investigate and have a great deal of disappointment in." The decision to let Aeroflot 111 into Canadian airspace because of its humanitarian designation appears to have been the result of confusion between the Liberal government and Nav Canada, which oversees air-traffic control across the country. Story has more.<br/>