Many European countries have banned Russian planes from transiting through their airspace to protest against Russian invasion of Ukraine.
- Britain announced ban on Russian private jets on Friday.
- The Czech Republic, Poland and Bulgaria closed their airspace shortly after.
- Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia and Romania followed suit on Saturday.
“There is no place for planes of the aggressor state in democratic skies,” Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas tweets.
- Austria announced on Sunday that all Russian flights will no longer be able to use Austrian airspace or land at Austrian airports from 1400 GMT.
“We are doing everything to show Vladimir Putin that we do not accept his invasion of Ukraine,” Chancellor Karl Nehammer says in a tweet.
- Germany imposed a three-month ban on all Russian flights, from Sunday.
- France too announced closure of its airspace for Russian planes from Sunday night.
- Belgium too refused entry to Russian aircrafts.
“Our European skies are open skies,” says Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. “They’re open for those who connect people, not for those who seek to brutally aggress.”
- Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland too decided not to accept any Russian planes.
- Finland, which shares a 1,300-kilometre border with Russia, “is preparing to close its airspace to Russian air traffic,” Transport Minister Timo Harakka tweets, without giving a time.
- Italy and Spain, too, say they are shutting off their airspace. Malta says it is also doing so to show “full solidarity with Ukraine”.
- North Macedonia’s government on Sunday also banned all Russian aircraft from its skies, but says humanitarian flights will be exempted.
- In tit-for-tat punitive measures, Russia on Sunday closed its airspace to flights operated by carriers from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia.
A day earlier, it had closed its airspace to flights from Bulgaria, Poland and the Czech Republic. On Friday, it banned all UK-linked planes from its skies.
