Lufthansa reschedules some Ukraine flights amid Russia tensions

Germany's Lufthansa has rescheduled at least two flights to Ukraine this week, in one of the first changes to air traffic since the latest step-up in tensions between Russia and the West. A Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Kyiv on Sunday afternoon was moved to Monday morning, with Lufthansa service centre staff saying this was because crew could no longer stay in Kyiv overnight due to the current "problems", a Reuters reporter who witnessed the announcement said. Tensions have escalated after Russia massed an estimated 100,000 troops within reach of the Ukrainian border, although Moscow denies any intention of invading. Several countries have issued warnings over the risk of flying near Ukraine's eastern border region, some 450-550 miles south-east of Kyiv, since Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was shot down in 2014, killing all 298 people on board. The US FAA recently renewed a ban on US airlines flying over parts of eastern Ukraine. Canada warned last week of "heightened military activity" and the "threat posed by miscalculation and miscommunication". Lufthansa's Frankfurt-Kyiv flight scheduled for Monday afternoon was moved to Tuesday morning, Frankfurt airport's online departure board showed, while no such flight featured on Wednesday. "We have adjusted our flight schedule to Ukraine for operational reasons only," a Lufthansa spokesperson said on Monday, while another confirmed there would be no layovers in Kyiv for the time being. Both did not comment further on the situation. The Frankfurt airport website showed a 10:10 pm Lufthansa flight on Monday to the Ukrainian city of Lviv, which is about 540 km west of Kyiv, was due to go ahead. Lufthansa serves Kyiv, Lviv and Odessa in Ukraine.<br/>