Eurocontrol predicts restrictions on Ukrainian airspace to remain until 2029

The Kyiv Independent news desk
Updated ·1 min read

According to a seven-year forecast by the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol), restrictions on flights over Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, and Moldova will remain until 2029.

Ukraine closed its airspace for civilian aircraft on Feb. 24, 2022, due to Russia’s full-scale invasion. Soon the EU countries and the U.S. closed their airspaces to Russian planes, with Moscow later retaliating.

Among the key factors of how the all-out Russian war against Ukraine affects civil aviation, Eurocontrol names the general degradation of the economic situation, in particular, the lowering of GDP growth forecasts due to disruptions in energy supply chains, higher inflation, and greater uncertainty.

The aviation industry keeps recovering after the coronavirus pandemic, reads the report.

However, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, restrictions on domestic flights for environmental protection, lack of personnel at airports, and related strikes are slowing down this process, according to Eurocontrol.

Moldova temporarily closes its airspace due to security reasons
Moldova closed its airspace for more than three hours on Feb. 14 “to ensure the safety and security of civil aviation,” the country’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) reported. The airspace was reopened at 2:47 pm. The incident comes a day after Moldovan President Maia Sandu said Russia was planning a…
Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news desk