Russia denies political motive for flight block | DW News

Austrian Airlines said it canceled a cargo-passenger flight from Vienna to Moscow on Thursday.

Flight OS601 from Vienna was scheduled to arrive in Moscow on time, but the board at Domodedovo airport listed the flight as canceled. Earlier, the airline had refused to transit through Belarusian airspace on the way to Moscow. The European Union has urged its airlines to avoid Belarus and its airspace following Sunday's forced landing in Minsk of a Ryanair plane and the arrest of dissident journalist Raman Pratasevich.

Vienna called on Moscow to clarify its position and added that all flights over and to Russia should be able to continue without problems.

Earlier, AirFrance also reported canceled flights to the Russian capital.

Russia's federal aviation agency Rosaviatsiya has told airlines that changes to routes from Europe to Russia due to a political row over Belarus may result in longer clearance times, issues described by the Kremlin on Friday as "technical".