The prevailing sanctions by the West against the Russian Federation also involved the closure of the respective airspace. However, Laos has been opening airspace to Russian aircraft since March 10, 2023.

After Putin's order of Russian aggression against Ukraine, sanctions were announced by some countries. Among them, the blocking of the respective airspaces for Russian aircraft was declared. As a result of this sanction, Russian aircraft are not authorized to fly in the airspace of the EU, the USA and many other countries.

One of the exceptions is the Southeast Asian country of Laos, Laos did not immediately ensure compliance with these sanctions, they did not announce any countermeasures for the time being. Despite the war, Russian airlines such as Aeroflot were allowed to fly in this airspace until Laos complied with western sanctions in December. Following the Western model, Laos finally closed their airspace in December and banned Russian planes from their territory. 3 months after the sanctions were announced, the ban was lifted, and the Russian airline is allowed to enter Laos airspace with impunity, as was the case last year, despite existing sanctions from other countries.