The European Union has completely closed the airspace for Russian aircraft. The corresponding decision was made by the EU Foreign Ministers on Sunday, February 27. This is reported TASS with reference to the European Union representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Josep Borrell.
Earlier, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also announced such plans from Brussels.
We are closing EU airspace to Russian aircraft. We are imposing a ban on all aircraft owned by Russia, registered in Russia or controlled by Russia. These planes will not be able to land, take off or fly over EU territory.
It is noted that this decision applies to both passenger aircraft and private business jets. The restriction will apply to all EU countries.
In addition to the European Union, Canada closed its airspace to Russian aircraft. “From now on, Canadian airspace is closed to all Russian aircraft operators,” Transport Minister Omar Alhabra said.
Flight cancellations
In this regard, a number of foreign air carriers canceled flights to Russia for a week. These included German airline Lufthansa, Dutch KLM, Latvian AirBaltic, French Air France and Turkish Airlines.
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According to a Lufthansa spokesman, the German company’s aircraft will not enter Russian airspace. The company representative also noted that all flights that were in Russian airspace would soon leave it.
KLM noted that the decision was made due to the sanctions adopted by European countries against Russia. During this time, the airline also “will not fly through Russian airspace to other destinations.”
In turn, AirBaltic stopped flights over Russia for a month until the end of March.
Latvian Airlines airBaltic announces that due to increased risk and restrictions imposed, all flights to and from Russia are canceled from 26 February to 26 March
Flights are also canceled by Russian airlines. One of the largest air carriers in Russia S7 cancels all flights to Europe from February 26 to March 13. The innovation will affect 16 cities, including Alicante, Barcelona, Berlin, Burgas, Bologna, Varna, Vienna, Verona, Düsseldorf, Larnaca, Milan, Munich, Nice, Paris, Paphos and Thessaloniki. The sale of tickets to these destinations after March 13 is temporarily suspended.
From Monday, February 28, flights to Europe are also suspended by Aeroflot. Passengers are offered to issue a forced refund at the place of purchase of the ticket.
In addition, since February 26, Russia has introduced restrictions on flights of airlines from a number of European countries. The restriction affected the UK, Poland, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia and Estonia.
This decision was made in accordance with the norms of international law as a response to the ban on all civil flights of aircraft operated by Russian air carriers and/or registered in Russia to/from the territory of these states
The ministry clarified that the restrictions also apply to transit flights. It is noted that flights from these countries to the territory of Russia can only be carried out with special permits issued by the Federal Air Transport Agency or the country’s Foreign Ministry.
It is noted that flights to Kaliningrad will now pass through the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea.
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Export of tourists
The Ministry of Transport, the Federal Air Transport Agency, together with the Federal Tourism Agency and the Russian Foreign Ministry, form lists of citizens for export from European countries. The schedule will be formed after the specification of the required carrying volumes, the schedule will be formed.
According to the estimates of the Russian Association of Tour Operators (ATOR), more than 150,000 Russian tourists may now be abroad. Over 27,000 of them are on routes where there are currently problems with flights to Russia (Europe, Caribbean countries, the USA and others).
It is noted that tourists stuck in countries that have closed the airspace for Russian aircraft are planned to be returned home in transit through third countries, including Turkey, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
According to Dmitry Gorin, Vice-President of the Russian Union of Travel Industry (PCT) Dmitry Gorin, now tour operators are solving the issue of transporting 400 independent and organized tourists from Budapest, Hungary, 500 organized tourists from Bulgaria and about 200 from Portuguese Madeira with Rostourism.
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