European Union closed its airspace to Belarusian aircraft.
The governments of the European bloc announced that the authorities of their countries must deny permission to “land, take off or overfly their territories to any aircraft operated by Belarusian airlines”.
The sanction came into force at midnight on Friday, June 4, as part of the punishment for the events of May 23. On that day, Alexander Lukashenko’s government used a fighter plane to force a Ryanair flight to land in Minsk on its way from Greece to Lithuania. On board was opposition journalist Roman Protasevich, who was arrested with his girlfriend.
As a result, the operations of companies such as Belavia, which normally flies to some 20 airports in Europe, including Germany, France, Italy and Austria, will be severely affected, Reuters reported.
The penalty also includes commercial carriers, which sell seats on aircraft operated by another airline as part of a code-share agreement.
Separately, just this week the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued a safety directive that EU aircraft must also avoid Belarusian airspace, unless it is an emergency.
A measure criticized by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The head of the body, Willie Walsh, stressed that flights to Asia will now be longer and more expensive, and that air travel safety should not be politicized. He said that this is a “retrograde and disappointing development”.
But both the EU and NATO argue that the precedent of the forced landing of the flight from Athens to Vilnius was an episode of state piracy and demands actions such as this.
Related Topics
LATAM Inaugurates Direct Flight Between Recife and Buenos Aires
LATAM to Cancel Lima-Tucuman Route Starting March 2026: These Are Reasons
Copa Airlines Resumes Flights Between Panama City and Maracaibo Starting December 20
Copa Airlines Extends Suspension of Flights to and from Caracas (Venezuela) Until January
Plataforma Informativa de Aviación Comercial con 13 años de trayectoria.