Beijing, 25 Feb (Xinhua) -- The deterioration of the situation in Ukraine has affected many sectors of the world economy, including the international aviation industry.
Japan Airlines canceled flights to Moscow, the capital of Russia, on the grounds of "potential safety risks", and the United Kingdom announced that it would ban Russian Airlines flights from entering British airspace.
As a countermeasure, the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency announced on the 25th that due to the "unfriendly decision" of the British side, the Russian side decided to prohibit all aircraft associated with the British side from entering Russian airspace.
This is the Kremlin photographed in moscow, the russian capital, on February 10. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Bai Xueqi)
Emirates said it had made slight changes to Flight Times to Moscow and Russia's second-largest city, St. Petersburg, Sweden's capital, and some flights to the United States, affected by the closure of airspace in Ukraine and the surrounding areas.
Germany's Lufthansa said it had not yet seen the need to cancel flights to Moscow.
This is the footage of Russian President Vladimir Putin delivering a televised speech in the Russian capital Moscow on February 24. Putin announced on the same day that he would launch a special military operation in the Donbass region. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Bai Xueqi)
According to Reuters, the airspace in Ukraine, Moldova, parts of Belarus and southern Russia near Ukraine has been closed, further restricting the choice of routes between airlines and Eurasia. Anchorage International Airport in Alaska said several aviation companies began consulting the airport about its operational capabilities in case routes through Russia were affected by the situation in Ukraine. Reuters reported that during the Cold War, when the Eurasian routes of Western airlines could not pass through Soviet airspace, Anchorage Airport was the main transit point.
OPSGROUP, an advisory body that tracks flight adjustment information, has suggested that flights flying through Russian airspace should have contingency plans in place to deal with situations where airspace is closed due to security or sanctions risks.
A spokesman for the International Civil Aviation Organization under the United Nations said that the council of the organization is scheduled to meet on the 25th to discuss issues related to the situation in Ukraine.
People take shelter in a subway station in Kiev, Ukraine, on Feb. 25. (Photo by Xinhua news agency reporter Lu Jinbo)
In addition to the risk of airspace closure, the soaring oil prices brought about by the situation in Ukraine have also had an impact on shipping companies. The COVID-19 pandemic and the travel restrictions it has brought have cost the international aviation industry, and now it has just recovered, and the international crude oil price once exceeded $100 a barrel, which will further increase the operating costs of airline companies.
Airlines are also worried about the risks of cooperation with Russian companies. U.S. and European sanctions against Russia could affect Aeroflot's payments to foreign aircraft leasing companies and the supply of aircraft spare parts.
According to the statistics of the aviation industry analysis company Silum, there are currently 980 civil aviation passenger aircraft operated by Russian companies, of which 515 are from foreign leasing companies.
However, Reuters reported that among the sanctions announced by the US government against Russia, the technical products necessary to ensure flight safety are exempted, and the industry expects that this move can limit the losses of the aviation industry to a certain range. (Shen Min)
Source: Xinhua News Agency