FRANKFURT (AFX) - Deutsche Lufthansa AG's budget airline Germanwings and Air Berlin Plc may be on the list of EU airlines to be banned from Russian air space for alleged failure to comply with required altitude levels, Financial Times Deutschland said, citing sources in the sector.
Neither Air Berlin nor Germanwings have received complaints from Russia yet, the newspaper cited spokespeople for the two airlines as saying.
'We see this as a technical problem,' a spokesman for EU transport commissioner Jacques Barrot said. Such incidents are 'relatively common,' he added, the report said.
Russia may close its air space to EU airlines, which continue to breach safety regulations due to a 'lack of discipline' and poor training of pilots, Russian news agencies reported in mid-March. patrizia.kokot@thomson.com pk/mas/tw COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News. AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited