newstodate.aero

Feb 28, 2022 (newstodate): The Chairman of the Russian Parliament, the Duma, had a first-hand experience with the closure of much of Europe's airspace to Russian aircraft.
   The Duma chairman was visiting Russian allies Cuba and Nicaragua as the European airspace was closed, and on his abruptly expedited return from Cuba with a delegation from the Parliament and Russian press, the IL-96 aircraft from Rossiya Special Flight Squadron was denied access to fly through Swedish and Finnish airspace on the direct route to Moscow.
   Instead, the aircraft has forced to head north over Tromso, while it remains unclear why Norway allowed the Russian aircraft to fly over the northernmost part of the country.
   After that, the aircraft finally entered Russian airspace over the Kola Peninsula for its final leg southward to Moscow on a flight prolonged by some 2.5 hours.