EU’s flight ban breached? A small armed Hungarian plane flew to Minsk

A Hungarian manufacturer’s plane flew to the boycotted country last week and then spent days in Minsk, even though an unusually severe punitive measure, a pan-European flight ban, was imposed on Belarus for forcing the Ryanair plane to the ground. According to Magnus Aircraft Zrt., the general flight ban does not apply to them.

A Hungarian plane landed on June 16 in the capital of Belarus. According to Flightradar, Magnus Aircraft Zrt.’s HA-XCN small aircraft arrived in Minsk from Debrecen. The two-seater Magnus Fusion spent four days at the airport in the Belarusian capital and then flew back to Jakabszállás on Monday.

The visit of the Hungarian plane was spotted by members of a Facebook group dealing with air traffic. The path of Magnus Fusion was easily recognisable because airspace in Belarus has been almost completely empty since the European Council introduced punitive measures against the country.

As is well known, on 23 May, at the behest of President Alexander Lukashenko, a Ryanair flight between Athens and Vilnius was forced to land in Minsk which in principle would have just flown over the country.

The aim of the order was to allow the Belarusian authorities to arrest opposition journalist and activist Raman Pratasevich on board.

Brussels’ response to the hijacking has essentially stopped air traffic between Europe and Belarus. Since the end of May, EU airports have not received flights from Belarusian airlines, and even Belarusian aircraft are not allowed to fly through the airspace of EU Member States.

As an EU member state, of course, Hungary cannot back out from the unusually severe airspace block. Although a Hungarian state-owned airline no longer exists, the aviation authority, in its flight safety information issued on 4 June, defined the validity of the ban much more broadly.

According to this,

air carriers licensed in Hungary, pilots of Hungarian licensed aircraft, and aircraft with Hungarian registration are also not allowed to enter the airspace of Minsk (Belarus).

Deviations from this instruction are essentially possible only in an emergency, due to unforeseen circumstances.

Our colleagues and our Magnus Fusion Business demonstration aircraft took part in a mission in Belarus,

Regina Tarány reacted to the situation at the request of 24.hu.

The company’s marketing manager added that the current NOTAM, according to the company, only applies to “the ban on flying aircraft engaged in commercial activities,” therefore, the trip was legally acceptable.

Magnus Aircraft has been trying to get a market for its aircraft with surprising pulls recently, after not really being able to boost production.

The company announced in January that an agreement had been reached with the Nigerian Air Force. The first news about the business indicated that the machine, which was lightweight and could be operated at low maintenance costs, would also be used for military purposes. According to Nigerian sources, the planes are planned to be deployed against Boko Haram and other armed organisations, and a local arms factory will be able to equip them for air support and reconnaissance military missions.

The Hungarian aviation authorities have not yet made a substantive comment on the EU airspace boycott and the Magnus route to Minsk.

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Source: 24.hu; flightradar24.com