Ukraine airspace closure could ‘severely disrupt’ commercial flights

‘There is a risk of both intentional targeting and misidentification of civil aircraft,’ European body EASA warns operators

The Foreign Office (FCDO) has warned that commercial air routes could be “severely disrupted” by the closure of Ukraine’s airspace following Russia’s invasion of the country.

“Ukraine’s airspace is closed. It is likely that commercial routes out of Ukraine will be severely disrupted and roads across Ukraine could be closed,” the department tweeted from @FCDOtraveladvice.

Ukraine’s State Air Traffic Services Enterprise announced the closure of its airspace to civil aircraft shortly before 1am GMT. A statement read: “The provision of air traffic services to civilian users of the airspace of Ukraine is suspended.”

Flight tracking website Flightradar24 showed an El Al flight from Tel Aviv to Toronto making a sudden U-turn out of Ukraine’s airspace around the time of the announcement.

The International Air Transport Association (Iata) said: “Overflight traffic in Ukraine was already considerably reduced since the MH17 incident in 2014. Airlines will be using all available information to make their own risk assessments.

“Safety is always the number one priority of the industry. To the extent possible, Iata is helping to facilitate the relevant and timely sharing of information with regard to Ukraine and also other potential conflict zones, from government and non-government sources.”

Transport secretary Grant Shapps tweeted to say he has instructed the Civil Aviation Authority to “ensure airlines avoid Ukraine airspace to keep passengers and crew safe”.

A snapshot of the airspace around Ukraine shortly after 10am (FlightRadar24.com)

He added: “We continue to stand with the people of Ukraine and work with our international partners to respond to this act of aggression.”

Ryanair announced this morning that it has suspended all flights to and from the country for at least 14 days, and removed all flight sales for four weeks, saying it hopes to restore services as soon as possible.

A statement posted on Twitter said:  “All flights to/from Ukraine have been removed from sale for at least next four weeks until further information becomes available from EU safety agencies.

“Ryanair remains committed to our services to/from Ukraine and we look forward to restoring flight services there as soon as it is safe to do so.”

Wizz Air has also suspended all Ukraine flights, saying in a statement: “Due to the current events in Ukraine and the airspace closure, Wizz Air regrets to inform our customers that the airline must temporarily suspend all flight operations in the country.

“Passengers with flights booked on arriving or departing Ukrainian flights can find more information on wizzair.com, or alternatively, via the airline’s call centre: 00380 893 202 532. The safety and security of our passengers and crew remains our number one priority and we hope normality will to return to Ukraine soon.”

In the wake of the invasion, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) also warned of security threats to flights crossing over neighbouring Russia and Belarus.

“There is a risk of both intentional targeting and misidentification of civil aircraft,” the regulator said.

“The presence and possible use of a wide range of ground and airborne warfare systems poses a high risk for civil flights operating at all altitudes and flight levels.”

Safe Airspace, which was set up in the wake of flight MH17 being shot down over eastern Ukraine in 2014, upgraded its warning to level one ("Do not fly").

A statement on its website says: "The primary risk is an unintended targeting of civil aircraft by military, including misidentification (as with MAS17, UIA752), or confusion.

"The secondary risk is potential lack of Ukrainian Air Traffic Control Service at short notice (Cyber Attack), and other unforeseeable non-normal operating environments for civil aircraft."

Flights in southern Russia and Crimea have also been affected, with services to and from 11 airports including Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar and Stravropol suspended until 2 March, according to Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsia.

British Airways has continued to run flights into Moscow today.

A spokesperson for the airline said: “We continue to operate to and from Moscow and through Russian airspace as planned, but continue to closely monitor the situation.

“Safety is always our highest priority and we would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so.”

Airlines had started to cancel or suspend flights into Ukraine last week as the threat of an invasion loomed, with KLM, Lufthansa and Air France among the earliest to do so.