EASA extends Russian airspace warning

January 14, 2025

In an updated safety bulletin, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has continued to recommend against operating flights over Russian airspace; citing the December 2024 Azerbaijan Airlines incident as representative of an ongoing “high risk to flight operations” posed by drone attacks or activation of air defence systems.
The latest Conflict Zone Information Bulletin (CZIB), issued on 9 January, recommends against flying at all altitudes in the airspace of the Russian Federation west of longitude 60 degrees east. Although EASA stresses that no EU airlines currently fly to, from or over the affected airspace, “a number of third-country carriers continue to do so, despite the war-related risks”.
Elaborating on the CZIB – based on “information currently available to EU Member States, EASA and the European Commission” – EASA highlights the ongoing conflict (following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine) as posing significant risks to civil aircraft. These, explain EASA, run the risk of being “unintentionally targeted” due to “possible civil-military co-ordination deficiencies, and the potential for misidentification”.
Additionally, the activation of Russian air defence systems – capable of operating at all altitudes – “may have a direct impact on flight operations at several locations, including major international airports,” cautioned EASA. The potential for Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) spoofing and jamming is also cause for concern, “particularly in the areas around the conflict zone and sites targeted by the drone launches”.
The Russian CZIB is valid until at least the end of July 2025, unless reviewed earlier, with EASA continuing to “closely monitor the situation with a view to assess whether there is an increase or decrease of the risk”. A separate CZIB, designating the airspace of Ukraine as an active conflict zone and recommending civil operations avoid it, was also recently extended until at least 31 July 2025.