Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has announced that Polish airspace will be closed to Russian planes because of the Russian attack on Ukraine: “I have commissioned the preparation of a Council of Ministers resolution that will lead to the airspace being closed to Russian airlines,” he wrote Friday on Twitter. In Austria, however, no measures are planned at national level, the climate protection ministry said on Friday.
“We will also take all measures with regard to Austrian airspace in close coordination with our European partners,” said a ministry spokesman. He informed that there are currently no restrictions on overflights by Russian aircraft in Austrian airspace. “Should we jointly agree on further measures at European level, these can be put into effect in Austria immediately by Austrocontrol,” emphasized the spokesman.
In Poland, the TV news channel TVN24, citing government spokesman Piotr Mueller, reported that a corresponding law blocking airspace for Russian airlines would take effect from midnight.
The Czech Republic also wants to join the Polish step, as Prime Minister Petr Fiala said after a cabinet meeting on Friday. Details are yet to be announced.
After months of troop deployment on the borders with Ukraine, Russia launched an offensive on Thursday. While tanks pushed into the former Soviet republic, there were air raids across the country. According to estimates by the United Nations, 100,000 people are already fleeing Ukraine.
The Russian airline S7 is canceling all flights to Europe for a good two weeks because of the conflict between Russia and NATO. The connections to 16 cities, including Berlin, Düsseldorf and Munich, are affected until March 13th. According to the agency Tass, the airline justified the step on Friday with the airspace closures of several EU countries such as Poland or the Czech Republic for Russian aircraft. In addition, no tickets will initially be sold for the period from March 13th. The purchase price will be refunded.
Source: Nachrichten
