Until further notice ”, Air France aircraft will no longer fly over Belarusian airspace. The French airline announced that it was suspending its overflight of the former Soviet republic on Tuesday, May 25. This decision is in line with a recommendation of the European Union, adopting new sanctions against the regime of Alexander Lukashenko. “Air France has taken note of the conclusions of the European Council and consequently suspends until further notice the overflight of the airspace (of Belarus) by its aircraft”, announced the airline in a press release, on the night of this Monday to Tuesday. The flight plan of aircraft already en route will be modified accordingly.
Air France “permanently” follows the evolution of the geopolitical situation of the territories served and overflown by its aircraft and applies “strictly the regulations”, specified Air France in its press release. The previous evening, the leaders of the European Union recommended to European companies to bypass Belarusian airspace, after adopting a new set of sanctions against the regime of Alexander Lukashenko. The head of state is accused of having diverted a European airliner to Minsk to arrest a dissident, whose immediate release the EU demands.
Other airlines had already suspended their overflight
The European Union has also announced the closure of its airspace to Belarus. London and Kiev had already blacklisted the airspace of this former Soviet republic and several airlines had already announced their decision to avoid its overflight including Lufthansa, SAS and AirBaltic. Nearly 2,000 aircraft carrying out commercial flights fly through Belarusian airspace every week, the Eurocontrol organization said. The Belarusian company Belavia, for its part, operates around 20 flights every day from or to EU airports.
Roman Protassevich, a 26-year-old opposition journalist, and his partner Sofia Sapéga were on board a Ryanair Boeing from Athens to Vilnius when the plane was rerouted on Minsk on Sunday after a bomb threat which turned out to be false. They were arrested at the airport and the young man is now being held in Minsk, the capital. Before the adoption of this new sanctions package, the EU had already blacklisted 88 regime members, including President Alexander Lukashenko, and seven entities.
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