Russia’s attack on Ukraine also affects air travel. The planes avoid Ukrainian airspace and make a wide berth.
Kassel – The Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to escalate. But the Russian attack on Ukraine also has an impact on international air traffic.
On Thursday morning (February 24th, 2022), the Ukrainian aviation authority closed the airspace over Kiev, Dnipro, Odeesa, Simferopol and Lviv, as reported by stern.de. In addition, the European aviation authority EASA had already warned civil aircraft not to fly near the Ukrainian border. According to CNN, the authority warned that there was a high risk of becoming a target of the attacks.
Russia-Ukraine conflict has an impact on international air traffic: Airspace is avoided
The warning is taken seriously, as the Flightradar24.com portal shows. Planes avoid Ukrainian airspace, but there are also almost no planes in western Russia and Belarus.
The British government also called on airlines to avoid the country’s airspace after the Russian attack on Ukraine. “Following the horrific events of the night, I have instructed the Aviation Authority to ensure airlines avoid Ukrainian airspace to ensure the safety of passengers and crews,” UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps wrote on Twitter.
Planes avoid Ukrainian airspace over Russia-Ukraine conflict
Melinda Simmons called on her compatriots to leave the country immediately “if you think it is safe to do so from where you are,” Britain’s ambassador in Kyiv tweeted. She called Russia’s attack on Ukraine “completely groundless,” adding: “Just because you’ve prepared and pondered this possibility for weeks and months doesn’t mean it won’t be shocking when it actually happens.” “
A few months after the annexation of Crimea, in July 2014, a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane was shot down in eastern Ukraine. The plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. 298 people died in the process. However, the incident remains unsolved to this day. A missile hit the plane in eastern Ukraine, where Donetsk and Luhansk had recently been declared separatist areas. A few days before the accident, Europol had asked Ukraine to block airspace in eastern Ukraine. (Samira Müller with dpa)
