Today, June 29, 2021, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued an order proposing to prohibit the sale of passenger air transportation, including air transportation on an interline basis (e.g. tickets booked through one airline that contain flights operated by multiple airlines), between the United States and Belarus. DOT’s order is premised on the Department of State’s determination that, in light of the diversion of Ryanair flight 4978, it is in the foreign policy interests of the United States to limit transportation between the United States and Belarus. The prohibition would provide the ability for the U.S. Government to make case-by-case exceptions for any transportation deemed to be in the national interest of the United States, including on humanitarian or national security grounds.
The Department’s order allows for public comment from interested parties until July 1, 2021. Interested parties may track developments in the case and read the Department’s order at www.regulations.gov, by searching for Docket DOT-OST-2021-0074.
