Germany and the Russian Federation had a veritable skirmish on Wednesday over the approval of flight routes. Initially, Lufthansa was not allowed to make a change that avoids Belarus' airspace. The Federal Republic promptly countered and Aeroflot and S7 Airlines were not allowed to fly.

The incident is very reminiscent of that of last week, because for example Austrian Airlines had to cancel a circulation in Moscow due to lack of Russian approval. The Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Austria subsequently stated that such bureaucratic problems should no longer occur in the future.

On Wednesday it hit Lufthansa in Germany and in the best skirmish style, the Federal Aviation Office countered and rejected the permits for Aeroflot and S7 Airlines. The victims of this bureaucratic dispute are the passengers, because they could end up completely empty-handed. Official flight bans are generally considered to be force majeure within the meaning of EU Regulation 261/2004.

The situation only eased on Wednesday evening, because Lufthansa had received approval from the Russian Federation to operate the flights to Saint Petersburg and Moscow. Shortly afterwards, the Federal Ministry of Transport announced that the ban on Aeroflot and S7 Airlines had also been lifted.