Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to impact global travel with mounting interruptions to air service.
By Francesca Street and Marnie Hunter| CNN Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to impact global travel with mounting interruptions to air service. The European Union closed all airspace across its 27 countries to Russian airplanes on Sunday, following a steady stream of announcements of airspace closures from member countries over the weekend. In response to the EU ban, the Russian Civil Aviation Authority announced on Monday that it has closed off its airspace to the carriers of 36 countries. The United Kingdom closed its airspace to Russian aircraft on Thursday, with Russia responding with its own UK ban on Friday. Canadian airspace is also closed to Russian aircraft operators. The number of canceled flights to and from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport ranked highest worldwide as of mid-day Monday as western governments closed airspace to Russian aircraft. One in every five departing and arriving flights from Sheremetyevo have been canceled as of 12:30 p.m. ET Monday, according to data on flight tracking site FlightAware. The airport is the largest in Russia, according to its website. Lask week, Ukraine’s airspace closed in the wake of the Russian invasion. Ukraine’s neighbor Moldova also closed its airspace, as did part of Belarus. The conflict could redraw the world air map. Meanwhile, the US government’s Federal Aviation Administration told US pilots last week to avoid “the entire country of Ukraine, the entire country of Belarus and a western portion of Russia.” The European Union Aviation Safety Agency, known as EASA, has warned of a “high risk” to civilian aircraft flying near the Ukrainian border. Countries including the United States and the United Kingdom have advised their citizens to leave Ukraine, and both the US and the UK have advised against all travel to Ukraine and Russia. Here’s what we know about how travel in Eastern Europe and Russia might be impacted in the wake of the conflict. Air traffic is still moving outside of severely affected areas. As well as bordering Russia, Ukraine also neighbors Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova, as the map above illustrates. EASA doubled the size of the warning zone around Ukraine on February 25, fearing “mid-range missiles penetrating into controlled airspace.” The zone expanded from within 100 nautical miles to within 200 nautical miles of the Ukrainian border with Russia.
