Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, announced that the European Union closed its airspace to Russian flights. She added that they are shutting down its airspace for Russian-registered, Russian-controlled, and Russian-owned planes over its invasion of Ukraine. Furthermore, she said that those aircraft, including the private jets of oligarchs, will now not be able to fly over, take off, or land in over any European Union country.
Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, announced that the European Union shuts its airspace to Russian-registered, Russian-controlled, or Russian-owned aircraft. pic.twitter.com/xlb2WSAKVy
— Live News Now (@LiveNewsNow6) February 28, 2022
On the other hand, the United Kingdom previously banned Russian aircraft from its airspace. On Sunday, Aeroflot, the biggest airline in Russia, said it would cancel all flights to EU countries until further notice in a disciplinary move. Furthermore, European nations closed their airspace one after another before the decision. Finally, Germany announced that its ban would stay for three months.
First, we are shutting down the EU airspace for Russian-owned, Russian registered or Russian-controlled aircraft.
They won’t be able to land in, take off or overfly the territory of the EU.
Including the private jets of oligarchs. pic.twitter.com/o551M9zekQ
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) February 27, 2022
Likewise, yesterday’s departure boards at Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo airports of Moscow witnessed dozens of flights cancellation, including flights to Kaliningrad, Paris, and Vienna. In addition, Russian S7 Airlines said it would cancel flights to several European countries until at least 13th March on its official Facebook account. Alternatively, Moscow also imposed retaliatory restrictions on nations banning its flights.
Effects of Restriction on Russian Flights
The restrictions on Russian flights will require its airlines to take lengthy routes, resulting in longer flight times. In addition, worldwide commercial airlines avoid airspace around Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova amid the Russian invasion. United States Delta Air Lines said it would halt a flight booking deal with Russian Aeroflot. The British ban of Russian flights led Moscow to tit-for-tat with similar curb actions on the U.K. aircraft. European Union also sanctioned Putin and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.
Source: Web
Australian airline Qantas announced using a lengthier path for its direct flight between London and Darwin that doesn’t overfly Russia. In the same way, Virgin Atlantic said that avoiding Russian space would add between fifteen minutes and one hour to its flights between Pakistan, the United Kingdom, and India. On Sunday, Canada and European countries also decided to close down their airspace to Russian planes, an exceptional move intended at pressurizing Russian leader to end his attack on Ukraine.
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