Canada and European countries moved to close airspace to Russian aircraft on Sunday. This is an unprecedented step aimed at ending President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and is the largest attack on European nations since World War II.
Russia’s jet ban arises as the aviation industry continues to work on fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, which is still undermining global travel demand.
Germany, Spain and France have joined the United Kingdom, the Nordic countries and the Baltic states and have declared Russia’s ban on airspace. This is a major escalation of NATO allies’ tactics to wage an economic war with Putin in retaliation for the aggression.
US-led Western countries have also announced new financial sanctions against Russia. This calls the attack on Ukraine a “special operation” to capture the “neonazis” that President Putin claims to threaten Russia’s security. Say it’s an unfounded promotion.
Russia is now widely expected to further retaliate against the blockade and other sanctions. A unique edict banning airlines from the UK, Bulgaria and Poland has already responded to the early European airspace bans.
Without access to Russian air routes, experts say airlines will have to detour flights south, adding considerable time and cost, while avoiding the tensions of the Middle East.
“France has closed airspace to all Russian aircraft and airlines from tonight,” France Transport Minister Jean Baptiste Jebari said in a Twitter post.
Air France-KLM said it would suspend flights to and from Russia and airspace in Russian airspace until further notice as of Sunday.
Earlier, the German Ministry of Transport announced that it would close airspace to Russian planes and airlines for three months starting Sunday, with the exception of humanitarian flights.
Spain has also closed airspace to Russian aircraft.
The closure of European airspace to Russian airlines, and vice versa, had an immediate impact on world aviation. Yale France “is considering flight planning options to avoid Russian airspace, following the instructions of French and international authorities,” while temporarily suspending flights to China, South Korea, and Japan. He said he was.
In contrast, Lufthansa in Germany
Canada also said on Sunday that it immediately closed airspace to Russian aircraft.
Air Canada “does not fly to either Ukraine or Russia destinations. It always complies with all airspace restrictions imposed by the Canadian Department of Transportation and the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration),” the airline said. I am.
A spokesperson for Canada’s Minister of Transport said there are no direct flights between Russia and Canada, but several Russian flights a day pass through Canada’s airspace.
Scandinavian countries Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland have made similar announcements following the closures declared by the United Kingdom, Poland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Romania. The Baltic states Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have also closed airspace to Russian airliners.
“It is now absolutely necessary to take even stricter steps to isolate Russia,” Sweden’s EU Minister Hans Dargren told public broadcast radio SR.
Finland’s Minister of Transport and Communications Timo Harakka said on Twitter late Saturday that Finland, which shares a long border with Russia, is preparing for a similar closure.
Allison Lampert and David Shepherdson
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