Ukraine Has Closed Its Airspace To Civilian Planes

On Thursday, Ukraine banned its Airspace from civilian planes. It claimed a significant risk of safety. Meanwhile, Europe’s aviation body warned of the dangers of flying near Russia and Belarus due to military activity. In what looked like the start of a European war, Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized military intervention in Eastern Ukraine. Ukraine State Air Traffic Services Enterprise said that the country’s Airspace would block civilian planes. This will begin at 0045 GMT on Thursday, and air traffic services will be discontinued. Airspace in Russia and Belarus within 100 nautical miles of their Ukrainian borders, according to the EASA, might constitute a safety concern.

The Danger in the Region

In a conflict zone advisory, the agency stated, “There is a danger of both intentional targeting and misidentification of civil aircraft.”

“The existence and potential deployment of a wide variety of ground and aerial combat equipment pose a significant risk to civil planes of all altitudes and flying levels.”

In recent weeks, websites had shown intelligence-gathering flights over or near Ukraine. The West purposefully demonstrated support by emitting detectable signals that revealed space when planes withdrew. After this, Ukraine became declared a combat zone. Early morning aeroplane traffic skirted the whole nation in busy routes to the North and West.

According to flight monitoring service FlightRadar24, an El Al aeroplane from Tel Aviv to Toronto did a rapid U-turn out of Ukraine’s Airspace. Around the same time, a LOT Polish Airlines flight from Warsaw to Kyiv returned to Warsaw. Safe Airspace became established following the downing of MH17 to give safety and conflict zone information. It upgraded its danger rating over Ukraine to “do not fly” just hours before.

It also expressed concern about the possibility of a cyberattack on Ukraine’s air traffic control system. Russia said on Thursday that domestic flights to and from numerous airports near the Ukrainian border, including Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, and Stavropol, had been stopped until March 2.

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