Spain will close airspace to Russian airlines in response to Putin’s offensive in Ukraine

The Government of Spain has announced this Sunday that it will close the airspace to Russian airlines to respond to Putin’s offensive in Ukraine after the start of the Russian invasion. This has been communicated by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda through a message posted on Twitter: “Spain will proceed to close the airspace to Russian airlines”. It will do so, as indicated, under the rules set by Europe in the face of this crisis situation.

“Following the cooperation guidelines set by the European Union, this measure will have effects on flights operated by Russian airlines that use Spanish airspace“, the Ministry has expressed on Twitter. This decision comes very few hours after learning that Pedro Sánchez called all the former presidents of the Spanish Government to assess the Russian invasion in Ukraine; also, after the announcement, by the European Union , of a new package of sanctions against Russia to curb its attacks.

For their part, Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Iceland, Denmark, Luxembourg and Ireland have joined in recent hours the closure of airspaces declared by European countries against Russian planes. The German Transport Minister, Volker Wissing, announced this Sunday the closure of his airspace from 3:00 p.m. for three months, while “Italy has begun to close its airspace to Russia“, the press service of the Government of the Republic has made known this Sunday.

Also the Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander De Croo, has confirmed the closure on his Twitter account. “European skies are open for people connecting with each other, not for those who pursue brutal aggression“, he asserted. Meanwhile, the French Government’s Delegate Minister for Transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, explained that “France will close its airspace to all Russian planes and airlines starting tonight.” “Europe responds with total unity to the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” he stressed.

The Icelandic Foreign Minister, Thordis Gylfadottir, has announced the closure “in solidarity with Ukraine”, as has her Danish counterpart, Jeppe Kofod, who has also warned that his country is going to request this Sunday that the ban be apply to the entire airspace of the European Union, as German media advanced this Saturday. “Russia’s despicable attack on Ukraine deserves international sanctions and the strongest sentence possible,” Kofod said.

In addition, Luxembourg’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Mobility and Public Works, François Bausch, has advised the Civil Aviation Directorate to prepare the necessary notifications to close the country’s airspace to Russian airlines. “This measure will be proposed to the members of the Government and subsequently applied, therefore, during this Sunday, February 27, 2022,” he declared. Finally, the Irish Foreign and Defense Minister, Simon Coveney, has confirmed the same measure on Twitter and “encouraged the partners of the European Union to do the same”.

This Saturday, the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) announced the closure of their airspace. Finland is preparing a similar measure, as its Transport Minister Timo Harakka announced last night. The UK announced it late on Friday.