Russia has lost its seat in the United Nations (UN) Aviation Council following its invasion of Ukraine. In the re-election voting held on October 1, 2022, Russia failed to garner enough votes to retain its position in the 36-nation International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) governing council. Russia got 80 votes, six short of the required 86 votes to be on the ICAO's governing council. Canada and Europe had expressed their opposition to Russia’s re-election to the council.
Russia held the position of ‘state of chief importance in air transport’ along with China, Brazil, and Australia.
The voting results set off a procedural review, after a challenge by Russia for an additional vote. Calling the circumstances unprecedented, Poppy Khoza, assembly president and South Africa's director general of civil aviation, said: “When we have voted in our countries if we don't like the result, we don't ask for another vote.”
Russia is accused of a variety of offenses that go against the 1944 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation, such as bombing civilian airports, dual-registering aircraft, and disputes with lessors leading to hundreds of foreign aircraft being stuck in Russia.
Adina Valean, European Union Transport Commissioner, said: "We cannot accept that a member, breaching so clearly the Chicago Convention, sits in the very council that should act as its guardian. This is not about politics. It is about the fundamentals of this organization."
Expressing disappointment, the Russian representative told Reuters: “We'd like to express regret regarding the outcome of the voting. We view this as a purely political step and has nothing to do with Russia's position in the field of civil aviation."
Russia closed its airspace to airlines from 36 countries, including all 27 members of the European Union, in response to Ukraine-related sanctions targeting its aviation sector following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Interestingly, this is the first time in 40 years that a member is voted-out of the governing council. Apart from the addition of China in 2004, there has been no major change in the council for over four decades.