Rosaviatsiya has instructed Russian airlines, airports and air traffic management organisations to assess and manage safety risks from temporary airspace restrictions activated under the country’s Kovyor protocol. The guidance calls for closures to be built into routine risk-management and operational planning, including fuel calculations, diversion procedures, crew scheduling and airport arrangements for aircraft arriving outside normal operating hours.
The measures cover flight planning, airport operations and air traffic control. Organisations are to monitor restrictions continuously, review internal procedures and establish indicators to assess operational resilience. Airlines are also expected to plan for unscheduled landings, crew duty limits and crew changes, including at outstations.
The guidance addresses risks that can arise when closures disrupt routes and schedules, including fuel shortages, crew fatigue, air traffic separation issues and limited airport capacity for diverted flights. Navigation disruptions and the resumption of operations after restrictions are lifted are also among the operational concerns.
Russian airports were temporarily closed 2,860 times during the first eight months of 2026 because of drone threats, according to figures reported by the aviation channel Aviatorshina. That was about 4.5 times the number recorded in the same period a year earlier. One example cited in the report occurred on 6 July, when three aircraft landed at Kemerovo outside its normal operating hours after restrictions near Novosibirsk’s Tolmachevo airport.