Filenews 25 May 2021
Yesterday it was announced that the European Council would take steps to ban flights in EU airspace and deny access to EU airports to Belarusian aircraft.
French airline Air France announced today that it is suspending its flights over Belarusian airspace, following the EU's decision to impose new sanctions against Aleksandr Lukashenko's regime.
'Air France has been informed of the conclusions of the European Council and therefore suspends, until further notice, flights over (Belarus) airspace from its aeroplanes. Planes already on their way will modify their flight plan," said a company statement issued this morning.
For its part, Finland's national carrier announced today that it will stop using Belarusian airspace.
"This (decision) affects very few flights. The last flight (in Belarusian airspace) took place on Sunday and the next one will be on Wednesday," Finnair's spokeswoman told Reuters, adding that the company made this decision on the recommendation of the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency.
She clarified that the decision would affect three flights.
Its flight plan will also be modified by Singapore Airlines, as announced today, to avoid its planes passing through Belarusian airspace.
From tomorrow Ukraine stops flights to and from Belarus, which, as announced today on social media by the country's Prime Minister Denis Smigal, will prevent passengers from Belarus from passing through its airports.
The European Council strongly condemned the emergency landing of Ryanair's flight in Minsk, Belarus on 23 May 2021, which endangered aviation safety, as well as the detention by Belarusian authorities of journalist Roman Protasevic and Sofia Sapega.
Among other things, European leaders decided yesterday at the Brussels Summit to block EU airspace on Belarusian planes.
Source: RES - ICM
