On Saturday, KLM had two planes return on their way to Moscow (a Boeing 737-900) and Saint Petersburg (a Boeing 737-800), respectively, for fear that no spare parts would be available after arrival. Both aircraft were already over Russia. One plane returned immediately to Amsterdam, the other first made a fuel stopover in Copenhagen.

Flight KL903 was en route from Amsterdam to Moscow Sheremetyevo and at the same time KL1395 was in the air with Pulkovo airport near the northern city of Saint Petersburg as its destination. But KLM decided to have both aircraft turned back. When asked, the company stated that if aircraft in Russia are faced with a technical malfunction, no aircraft parts can be flown in.

This is a result of the sanction package that has been agreed in a European context to no longer send spare parts to Russia, not even for their own use by non-Russian airlines. The EU wants to punish Russia with these and other steps for the invasion of Ukraine, which began last Thursday.

The measure could mean that more EU airlines temporarily suspend flights to Russia. Aeroflot will continue to fly at the scheduled times between Schiphol and Moscow for the time being.

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* Origin: AVIATION ECHO HQ (2:292/854)