Cyprus closes its airspace to Belarus airlines, flights

Cyprus has closed its airspace to flights from Belarus, joining a list of European Union nations imposing restrictions following the forced landing of a passenger jet in Minsk on May 23. The aviation authority had banned airlines registered in Belarus from using Cyprus’s airspace and airports from May 28, a transport ministry spokesperson said. Most of Belarus’s neighbours and many other European nations have banned Belarusian national airline Belavia flights in anger over the forced landing of a Ryanair jet en route to Lithuania from Greece and the arrest of a dissident journalist on board. The same advisory prohibits Cyprus-registered airlines from entering Belarusian airspace, or flights to and from Belarus. All flights to Belarus have been suspended. <br/>