West ban Russian planes from their skies

GBNEWS24DESK//

Russian airlines face a near-total airspace blockade to the country’s west after an EU official said most European countries are set to impose flight bans.

A formal decision is expected on the measure later on Sunday.

One by one, European countries said they were closing their airspace, including Germany for three months, reports BBC.

With airspace curbs over Ukraine, Russian flights now have few route options for westbound journeys.

Departure boards at Moscow’s Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo airports showed dozens of cancellations on Sunday, including flights to Paris, Vienna and Kaliningrad.

Russia’s S7 Airlines said on Facebook it would cancel flights to many of its European destinations until at least 13 March.

Aeroflot, Russia’s biggest airline, said it would cancel its services to Latvia and Romania until at least 26 March, and its Prague and Warsaw routes until 28 March.

Meanwhile, Russia has responded with tit-for-tat restrictions on countries banning its flights.

Russian-owned planes, including private jets, can no longer enter the skies above the Baltic states, Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia. Russian planes have also been banned from UK airspace.

Several more EU countries have now joined the action to close airspace to Russian flights:

Germany has imposed a three-month ban.

Spain, France, Denmark, the Netherlands and Italy will also close their airspace to Russian aircraft.

Finland, which shares an 800 mile (1,300km) border with Russia, “is preparing to close its airspace to Russian air traffic,” Transport Minister Timo Harakka wrote on Twitter