Flights between Russia and Germany were briefly suspended after Moscow failed to extend German flag carrier Lufthansa's flight permissions in time, prompting a tit-for-tat response from Berlin.
"Russian authorities granted permission for Lufthansa to carry out flights to Russia in June. This means that Lufthansa flights to Moscow and St. Petersburg can operate as planned," a spokeswoman for the airline said late on June 2.
Russian airlines Aeroflot and S7 also announced flights would resume to Germany, Russia’s news agencies reported.
Earlier on June 2, Germany’s Federal Transport Ministry said Russia's aviation authority FATA had not renewed Lufthansa's flying rights for June, meaning that flights from Germany due to depart early in the day had to be cancelled at short notice.
The German Federal Aviation Office would not issue any further permits for incoming flights by Russian airlines to Germany as long as the permits were pending on the Russian side, the ministry said.
As a result, Aeroflot and S7 flights could not take place on June 2.
There was no immediate comments from Russian authorities.
Berlin says Russia “unilaterally” suspended bilateral agreements on airline traffic between the two countries in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Flights have since been authorized reciprocally on a monthly basis, it says.
