ASTANA. March 17 (Interfax) - The missing Malaysia Airlines plane did not fly over Kazakhstan as there has been no unsanctioned use of the republic's airspace, according to the Kazakhstan Ministry of Transport and Communications.
"Speaking of the maximum possible flight range of the plane, given its fuel reserves, Kazakhstan can be seen as one of the remotest points of this flight. According to Kazaeronavigatsiya, on March 8, 2014, there were nine Malaysia Airlines flights via Kazakhstan: from Kuala Lumpur to European cities and back," the ministry's Civil Aviation Committee Chairman Serik Mukhtybayev said, according to the ministry's statement issued on Monday.
"All these flights were performed in accordance with the approved plan, and there was no unsanctioned use of the Kazakh airspace on that day," the ministry said.
"Even hypothetically, before reaching Kazakh territory the plane would have crossed other countries en route which thoroughly control their airspace as well and would have sent the information. To date, no formal request has been received by the Kazakh aviation authorities from their Malaysian counterparts to organize search-and-rescue or other measures in the republic, but should there be such a request, we shall respond," the ministry said.
Communication with the Malaysian airplane with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board was lost at 02:40 a.m. local time on March 8 (10:40 p.m Moscow time on March 7), when it was flying over the South China Sea. The Boeing 777 was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.