Turkish Airlines suspected of using Russian airspace on flight from Tallinn
A Turkish Airlines aircraft operating a passenger flight from Tallinn to Istanbul on 12 July allegedly ended up over Russian territory during the flight.
The aircraft changed its usual route and flew over the Kaliningrad region, although flights normally avoid Russian airspace, writes the online edition of the weekly Eesti Ekspress.
One passenger said he noticed the route change in a flight‑tracking app and approached a flight attendant. After consulting the pilots, he was told that flying over Kaliningrad was a deliberate decision by the crew, as they considered this route the most optimal.
Lennuliiklusteeninduse AS, the company responsible for air‑traffic management in Estonia, said that according to the approved flight plan, the route should have passed through Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, without entering Russian airspace.
The head of the aviation department at Estonia's Ministry of Climate, Taivo Linnamägi, emphasized that flights over Russian territory are considered unsafe for civil aviation due to the ongoing war and the risks associated with it.
Although Turkish Airlines has the right to use Russian airspace, Flightradar data shows that such a route is rather an exception for flights between Tallinn and Istanbul.
Representatives of Turkish Airlines have not commented the incident, Eesti Ekspress said.
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Editor: Sergei Mihhailov, Argo Ideon
Source: Eesti Ekspress
