Canada investigates after Russian airline Aeroflot violates airspace ban

The federal government is launching a review after a Russian airline flight travelling from Miami to Moscow violated a newly-imposed ban and entered Canadian airspace.

Transport Canada said in a statement released late Sunday that it is investigating the conduct of Aeroflot Flight 111, which entered Canadian airspace on Sunday, the same day Ottawa banned all Russian-owned, chartered or operated aircraft from doing so.

"We are aware that Aeroflot flight 111 violated the prohibition put in place earlier today on Russian flights using Canadian airspace," Transport Canada said in its statement on Twitter late Sunday.

"We are launching a review of the conduct of Aeroflot and the independent air navigation service provider, (Nav Canada), leading up to this violation. We will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action and other measures to prevent future violations."

According to FlightRadar 24, a website that tracks global commercial flights, the plane travelled from Miami to Moscow. The route the plane took on Sunday travelled over New Brunswick, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Nav Canada, which operates Canada's air traffic control service, told Reuters that the Flight 111 aircraft operator declared the flight as a humanitarian flight as it entered the domestic airspace, which requires special handling by air traffic control under normal circumstances.

"We are currently cooperating with Transport Canada to investigate the occurrence, and are working with neighbouring Air Navigation Service Providers to support rerouting of aircraft prior to them entering Canadian-controlled airspace," Nav Canada said.

The Canadian government announced on Sunday that it was closing Canada's airspace to all Russian aircraft operators in response to the country's invasion of Ukraine.

"All of Canada is united in its outrage of President (Vladimir) Putin's aggression against Ukraine. In response, we have closed Canadian airspace to Russian-owned or operated aircraft," Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said in a statement.

"The Government of Canada condemns Russia's aggressive actions and we will continue to take action to stand with Ukraine."

The list of countries banning Russian aircraft has grown in recent days and prompted Putin's regime to close its airspace to 36 countries in retaliation. The list of countries banned from Russian airspace includes all 27 members of the European Union as well as Canada.

With files from Reuters

Alicja Siekierska is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow her on Twitter @alicjawithaj.

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