The airspace in Ukraine and Moldova was closed to commercial flights after the armed invasion of Russia began, which also affected part of the operations of Belarus and the Soviet country itself.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued a series of recommendations so that airlines do not fly over the airspace of Ukraine and Moldova, to the south of Ukraine, due to heavy military activity in the area.
In addition, the European authority warned that air operations in Russia and Belarus – designated as an ally of Russia in their military confrontation – are of high risk in the 100 miles closest to the Ukrainian border.
“Operators must not be within the mentioned airspace, including landings and takeoffs from airports located in the affected airspace,” EASA said in a bulletin.
The authority asked to operate with caution in the airspace of the Moscow and Rostov airports, in Russia, due to high military activity that could include the launch of medium-range missiles. In addition, it prohibited flying over Minsk, the capital of Belarus.
“The situation remains subject to unforeseen changes. EASA will monitor the progress regarding this case, and will adjust its recommendations accordingly,” he added.
From the early hours of Thursday, February 24, airlines began to leave Ukrainian airspace, which was left empty at a time when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his military incursion.
Airspace over and around Ukraine at 06:00 UTC time, today and 7 days ago.
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24)
Since the beginning of the week, airlines such as the Dutch KLM, the German Lufthansa and the Irish Ryanair, among others, have suspended their flights with Ukraine due to fears of the outbreak of an armed conflict.
What about flights from Mexico?
Although Mexico had not had a direct connection with Ukraine, a boom in the opening of flights from Europe to Caribbean destinations led to the announcement of two flights from Kiev to Cancun, which until the end of 2021, would be operated by the airlines Azur Air Ukraine and Ukraine International Airlines, both with a weekly flight from the winter season.
The Azur Air Ukraine trips were planned as charter flights aboard a Boeing 777-300, offered by tour operator ANEX Tour Ukraine, while the Ukraine International Airlines flights were planned on the same type of aircraft by tour operator KOMPAS. However, both airlines suspended all their flights in Ukraine, and to date there is no official information about the future of their connections with Mexico.
According to data from the Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC), only Azur Air Ukraine operated a flight in December, of which there is a record of the arrival of 515 passengers.
In addition to these flights, other companies such as Turkish Airlines, Air-France KLM and Lufthansa, among others, offered connections between Mexico and Ukraine with stops at some of their hubs in Europe.
Before the pandemic, Ukraine was the tenth largest issuer of European tourists to Mexico, with a flow of 46,788 citizens who entered by air in 2019, according to data from the Ministry of Tourism (Sectur).
