Airlines steer clear of Ukraine and surrounding region
Airlines cancelled and rerouted flights to steer clear of Ukraine and the surrounding region on Thursday as urgent warnings from safety regulators left a growing swath of airspace in eastern Europe off limits. The outbreak of war and a spike in the price of oil to more than $100 per barrel sent shares in major European airlines tumbling and opened up new problems for an industry still recovering from the pandemic. Ukraine’s air traffic agency declared the country’s airspace closed “due to the high risk of aviation safety for civilian aviation”, while the EU Aviation Safety Agency warned of the danger of flying in Russia and Belarus within 100 nautical miles of the Ukrainian border. Airlines were also warned to “exercise caution” when flying over parts of airspace operated by Moscow and Rostov air traffic control in Russia “due to heightened military activity, which may include launches of mid-range missiles penetrating into controlled airspace”. Airspace over Moldova and parts of Belarus were also closed by the respective national governments on Thursday. Industry bosses held a crisis call with EU member states in the morning to discuss the Russian invasion, according to a person with knowledge of the discussion. They were told that based on air traffic data from February 11, 610 aircraft per day could be hit by the airspace restrictions. The figure excludes direct flights to and from Ukraine. There was no discussion on the call of the impact that closing all of Russian airspace would have, indicating that the industry still considers it highly unlikely. Ukraine’s president has called on western leaders to “close” Russian airspace as part of a package of retaliatory measures. Airlines stocks experienced some of the biggest falls in the markets with Hungarian based Wizz Air’s shares tumbling 13.5%, while British Airways owner IAG and easyJet slipped more than 8%. Russian carrier Aeroflot fell 25%, matching a broader collapse in Moscow equities. London listed Wizz and Irish low-cost rival Ryanair, two of the last major airlines still flying to Ukraine, both cancelled flights. <br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2022-02-25/general/airlines-steer-clear-of-ukraine-and-surrounding-region
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Airlines steer clear of Ukraine and surrounding region
Airlines cancelled and rerouted flights to steer clear of Ukraine and the surrounding region on Thursday as urgent warnings from safety regulators left a growing swath of airspace in eastern Europe off limits. The outbreak of war and a spike in the price of oil to more than $100 per barrel sent shares in major European airlines tumbling and opened up new problems for an industry still recovering from the pandemic. Ukraine’s air traffic agency declared the country’s airspace closed “due to the high risk of aviation safety for civilian aviation”, while the EU Aviation Safety Agency warned of the danger of flying in Russia and Belarus within 100 nautical miles of the Ukrainian border. Airlines were also warned to “exercise caution” when flying over parts of airspace operated by Moscow and Rostov air traffic control in Russia “due to heightened military activity, which may include launches of mid-range missiles penetrating into controlled airspace”. Airspace over Moldova and parts of Belarus were also closed by the respective national governments on Thursday. Industry bosses held a crisis call with EU member states in the morning to discuss the Russian invasion, according to a person with knowledge of the discussion. They were told that based on air traffic data from February 11, 610 aircraft per day could be hit by the airspace restrictions. The figure excludes direct flights to and from Ukraine. There was no discussion on the call of the impact that closing all of Russian airspace would have, indicating that the industry still considers it highly unlikely. Ukraine’s president has called on western leaders to “close” Russian airspace as part of a package of retaliatory measures. Airlines stocks experienced some of the biggest falls in the markets with Hungarian based Wizz Air’s shares tumbling 13.5%, while British Airways owner IAG and easyJet slipped more than 8%. Russian carrier Aeroflot fell 25%, matching a broader collapse in Moscow equities. London listed Wizz and Irish low-cost rival Ryanair, two of the last major airlines still flying to Ukraine, both cancelled flights. <br/>
