Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and then Italy announced on Sunday that they would close their skies to Russian airlines, like many other countries in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine, while France is studying “
the principle
” but calls for "
European coordination
".
“
The German Transport Ministry has issued a flight ban for Russian aircraft and aircraft operators in German airspace
” from 3 p.m. Sunday, the Transport Ministry announced.
Berlin clarified that this ban was valid for three months but did not concern any humanitarian flights.
“
Belgium has decided to close its airspace to all Russian companies.
In Europe, the sky is open (…) to those who connect people, not to those who commit brutal aggression
, ”said Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo on Twitter.
The Luxembourg government also announced in a press release “
preparing the necessary notifications to close
” its airspace to Russian companies as of Sunday.
Luxembourg is a major hub for cargo planes and freight forwarding in Europe.
"
Italy is closing its airspace to Russia
," said the spokesperson in turn in a terse statement, without specifying the entry into force of this measure.
The four countries join Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Bulgaria, Finland, Denmark, Moldova and the United Kingdom, which have already announced a similar sanction.
On the other hand, France continues for the time being to study "
the principle of closing its airspace
", the Ministry of Transport told AFP on Sunday.
Jean-Baptiste Djebbari calls
for "rapid European coordination on the subject
", while discussions are underway between EU countries.
In retaliation, Moscow has begun to ban aircraft linked to these European countries from flying over its territory, including transit flights.
In unison with a growing number of Western companies, Lufthansa - the leading European group with the Lufthansa, Condor, Swiss, Brussel Airlines brands - already decided on Saturday to suspend flights to and over Russia for a week, saying they anticipate retaliatory measures from Moscow.
