Russian Airlines Lose Routes As European Flight Restrictions Spread

Eastern European and Baltic countries’ bans are squeezing airspace available to Russian providers.

Jonathan Welsh

Saturday, February 26, 2022 at 10:14 PM ET

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The amount of airspace where Russian airlines are not permitted continues to go up. [File Photo: Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

A growing number of European countries, including the UK, Baltic states, and Eastern European nations, are closing their airspace to Russian airlines.
Germany is also preparing to implement similar bans, further restricting Russian flight routes across the continent.
Russia has retaliated by banning airlines from several of these countries from its own airspace, disrupting European carriers' routes, particularly to Asian destinations.
The European air travel industry is bracing for more widespread bans and disruptions if EU sanctions continue to escalate.

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A growing number of airspace bans across Europe are severely restricting where Russian airlines can fly.

Numerous news outlets have reported that Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovenia are among the latest countries to close their airspace and airports to Russian carriers. These countries join the United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Poland in declaring similar prohibitions.