MOSCOW, August 6 (RIA Novosti) - European airlines’ shares fell by 3 percent amid reports on possible Russia’s response to Western sanctions after Dobrolet airline was included on the EU sanctions blacklist, according to the data from European stock exchanges.
As of 1 p.m. GMT, Finnair shares lost 2.99 percent and were priced at € 2.66 ($3.55). Germanny’s Lufthansa shares fell by 2.90 percent and were priced at €12.43 ($16.59). Air France-KLM shares fell by 3.55 percent, reaching €7.24 ($9.67) mark. Ireland’s low-cost airline Ryanair lost 2.18 percent, setting share price at €6.58 ($8.8).
On Tuesday, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that the Russian government should discuss a possible response to Western restrictions targeting Russian air carriers.
On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he had already prepared instructions for the government to retaliate against Western sanctions.
Earlier, the business newspaper Vedomosti reported that Russia may impose restrictions or a ban on European airlines using trans-Siberian routes, raising the cost of their flights to Asia.
Earlier this week, Aeroflot’s low-cost subsidiary, Dobrolet announced that it had to temporarily suspend all flights after being included on the EU blacklist of sanctions unveiled in late July for performing flights to the former Ukrainian republic of Crimea.
The European Union said the airline was facilitating the former Ukrainian region’s integration with Russia.
Moscow has repeatedly called the language of sanctions counterproductive and denied any involvement in the Ukrainian conflict.
