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Russia announced, on Saturday, the closure of its airspace to aircraft associated with Bulgaria, Poland and the Czech Republic, after a similar decision taken by Warsaw, Prague and Sofia against Russian Airlines.
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“Due to the unfriendly decisions of the air authorities of Bulgaria, Poland and the Czech Republic from 15:00 Moscow time (12:00 GMT) on February 26, 2022,” Russia closed its airspace to “airlines from these countries and / or those registered there ”, said the Russian air regulator Rosaviatsia.
This closure also relates to transit flights.
However, exceptions are possible if a special permit is issued by Rosaviatsia or the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to Russian oversight.
Poland, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria announced on Friday the closure of their airspace to Russian airlines, following Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine.
Poland’s national carrier LOT also announced the suspension of its flights to Moscow and Saint Petersburg on Friday afternoon.
The announcements come on the heels of a similar decision, taken on Thursday by Great Britain against Russia’s national company Aeroflot.
Russia, for its part, responded by banning over its territory all aircraft associated with the UK, including transit flights.
Moldova closed its airspace on Thursday.
The Estonian Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas, announced Saturday, on Twitter, that his country would close its airspace to Russian airlines.
“We call on all EU member states to do so,” she added.
And the Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa transmitted a tweet to his Estonian counterpart, stressing that Slovenia would apply the same measure.
The Minister of Transport of Latvia, Thales Linkites, indicated on Twitter that his country intends to “close its airspace to airlines registered in Russia for commercial flights,” explaining that this decision will be officially approved in the next Cabinet.
