Aeroflot says Ukraine bans entry to Russian male citizens aged between 16 to 60
MOSCOW. April 17 (Interfax) - Ukraine has introduced entry restrictions regarding Russian grown men, the Aeroflot Russian Airlines company said on Thursday.
According to the company, a relevant notification has been submitted by the Ukrainian authorities.
In particular, the restriction will apply to male citizens aged between 16 and 60. Such individuals will be allowed to enter Ukraine only in extreme cases and upon the decision of border regional department head following control measures, Aeroflot said in a statement.
Such cases are, for instance, showing documents confirming family ties, death or serious illness of close relatives. Without confirmation documents only Russian citizens, travelling as a family with children may be considered, the document said.
Restrictions also apply to men aged between 16 and 60 with Ukrainian citizenship, who are registered in Crimea and Sevastopol. These individuals will be allowed entry upon the decision of a border unit head only in case they travel to attend funerals of close relatives, have documents of serious diseases of close relatives, plane tickets and tourist vouchers, Aeroflot said.
Restrictions will be applicable to women aged between 20 and 35 with Ukrainian citizenship, who are registered in Crimea and Sevastopol. They will be permitted to enter Ukraine after control proceedings are held, the statement said.
Aeroflot said it recommended refraining from trips to Ukraine for some time and tickets from Moscow to Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Odessa can be returned with no penalties. The forced ticket return for these routes is indefinite, Aeroflot told Interfax.
No penalties or additional charges will occur amid forced changes of departure dates and refusals from the trip. Standard ticket return means that some fees (system fee, the airline takes under the current tariff conditions, agency fee for performing ticket return etc.) will be collected.
Aeroflot carries out daily a total of ten flights to five Ukrainian cities - to Kyiv (five flights a day), Donetsk (one flight a day), Odessa (two flights a day), Kharkiv (one flight per day) and Dnipropetrovsk (one flight per day). The company cancelled one evening flight to Donetsk in early April and now has just one morning one.
An Aeroflot representatives refused to comment to Interfax on Thursday whether the airline will decrease flight frequency or cancel flights to the Ukrainian cities, if for instance, new entry regulations lead to issues with aircraft loads.
In 2013 Aeroflot transported over 20 million passengers and the Aeroflot company in general - over 31 million passengers. The airline has 96 jets of the A319/320/321 family, whose average age is 4.8 years.