Russia’s state aviation agency has closed its airspace to 36 countries including the UK, Germany, Spain, Canada, and Italy forcing airlines to find alternative routes to reach Asia.
The move comes as tit-for-tat retaliation to what Russia has described as “unfriendly” actions taken by most EU countries and its NATO allies.
Earlier this week, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, slapped a blanket flight ban on all Russian aircraft.
“We are shutting down EU airspace for Russian-owned, Russian-registered or Russian-controlled aircraft,” she said.
“We’re proposing a prohibition on all Russian-owned, Russian-registered, and Russian-controlled aircraft.
“These aircraft will no more be able to land in, take off, or overfly the territory of the European Union.”
She went on to say that the restrictions will apply to private jets of Russian oligarchs.
Russia’s response will require EU airlines to take detours, resulting in longer flight times to reach Asia.
Thus far, the countries affected by the measure include Albania, Anguilla, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, British Virgin Islands, Germany, Gibraltar, Hungary, Greece, Denmark, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Jersey, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Despite the fact that the EU and Canada have barred Russian flights, U.S. airspace remains open at press time.
On Tuesday, Canada rerouted two Russian planes after those identified themselves as “humanitarian” flights.
On the “sea front,” Turkey has formally invoked its authority to close the Dardanelles and the Bosporus to foreign warships, preventing Russian from accessing its Black Sea warship fleet.
In a speech Monday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that while he couldn’t cut ties with Russia, he would use his authority under the Montreux Convention “to prevent escalation of the Russia-Ukraine crisis.”
“We implemented what Montreux says and we will do so from now on. There has been no request for passage through the straits until today,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters on Monday.