The European Union has announced that it will close its airspace to Russian airlines, in retaliation for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, a measure also decided by several non-EU European countries and by the Canada.
Par AFP
NWe propose (to the Twenty-Seven) to ban all planes belonging to Russians, registered in Russia or controlled by Russian interests. They will no longer be able to land, take off or fly over EU territory,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Sunday.
European countries line up
During the day, European countries had announced, one after the other, decisions of this type, from Italy to Germany, via Belgium, Sweden, France, Spain and Portugal.
“In Europe, the sky is open (…) to those who connect people, not to those who commit brutal aggression,” justified Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.
“There is no place in Dutch airspace for a regime that applies unnecessary and brutal violence,” said Dutch Infrastructure Minister Mark Harbers.
Outside the EU and European continent
Other European countries, not members of the EU, have also taken such measures on Sunday or in recent days, such as the United Kingdom, Norway, North Macedonia or Iceland.
Outside Europe, Canada, the second largest country on the planet, has also announced such a decision.
Despite this ban, a flight from the Russian company Aeroflot flew over eastern Canada on Sunday evening. This is Aeroflot flight 111 which left Miami, in the southeastern United States, for Moscow, flying over the Canadian east coast, according to the online statement of the specialized site Flightaware.com consulted by AFP.
“We are launching a review of the conduct of Aeroflot and the independent air navigation services provider, NAVCAN, which led to this violation”, reacted on Twitter the Canadian Ministry of Transport, acknowledging that “flight number 111 of Aeroflot violated the ban put in place”.
With many countries having already closed or announced the closure of their airspace, Russian air traffic finds itself facing a very large no-fly zone, forcing flights to huge detours.
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