Airlines have been reassessing operations this week amid Ukraine-Russia tensions. Notices to flight crew remind pilots that “there is an active conflict zone in eastern Ukraine along the border with Russia.” The US FAA bans US operators from overflying the eastern part of the “Dnipro FIR” (flight information region – an area of airspace) and warns to exercise extreme caution within 100nm of the border on the Russian side. Several other states have also issued airspace warnings for eastern Ukraine.
Aviation authorities and security agencies have determined the primary risk for operations near the Russia-Ukraine is that should hostilities escalate here, the airspace on both sides could be exposed to potential weapons activity posing a risk to civil aircraft from misidentification or miscalculation.
The risks of overflight of this area during tensions also stems from the risk of aircraft potentially receiving confusing and conflicting air traffic control instructions from both Ukrainian and Russian air traffic control. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and installed their own ATC for the region. However, Ukraine is responsible for the provision of ATC in the UKFV/Simferopol FIR and asks overflights to only speak to Ukrainian ATC.
Many foreign airlines have been avoiding parts, or all of Ukraine’s airspace for years, following the tragedy of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 — a passenger jet shot down by pro-Russian separatists.
Dutch airline KLM has cancelled flights to Ukraine until further notice, the company confirmed.
Norwegian, a European low-cost airline, is now avoiding Ukraine’s airspace “until further notice” the carrier has confirmed. Norwegian say: “We made this decision based on a comprehensive safety assessment. That is why we decided to suspend flights over Ukraine. Safety always comes first.” Norwegian does not fly directly to any airports in Ukraine, but some of its flights ordinarily operate via western parts of Ukrainian airspace (overflight) — including flights to Turkey.
Ukraine International Airlines, the country’s flag carrier airline, was told by insurers that the provider would be “terminating insurance of aircraft for all flights in Ukrainian airspace” — (a decision which could have potentially ground the entire airline). At the request of aircraft leasing companies (lessors), Ukraine’s national airline - UIA – was also forced to send 5 Boeing 737-800 jets out of Ukrainian airspace and over to Spain for storage.
Lufthansa said, like other airlines, it is “monitoring the situation in Ukraine very closely.” Governments of 39 countries have warned their citizens to leave Ukraine as soon as possible, according to the Ukrainian media.
Qatar Airways consolidated flights, temporarily reducing its operations in to Kyiv whilst it assesses the developing situation.
Both KLM and Lufthansa began rescheduling flights in January to avoid airline crews having to stay in the Ukrainian capital overnight as the build-up of Russian troops at the Ukrainian border intensified. The Irish low-cost airline Ryanair said in late January that it had reduced flights to and from the country.
“Airlines will need to negotiate Ukraine aviation cover with their insurers, with some of the required war risk policies now being agreed on a daily basis” a senior Lloyd’s market official told Reuters on Monday. For aviation, there are similarities to be drawn with the US-withdrawal of Afghanistan back in August 2021. The Taliban takeover of Kabul triggered a mass-exodus of airlines, as airline insurers pulled the plug on policies, and aircraft leasing companies demanded their jets leave Afghan airspace. "Most market leaders (insurers) gave 48 hours’ notice to exclude Ukraine as of Friday evening, which does not mean they have terminated or withdrawn cover. It means that there is an invitation to negotiate coverage,” the head of marine and aviation with the Lloyd’s Market Association told Reuters.
For Ukraine, in a bid to ensure airspace and air travel continuity amid heightened tensions, Ukraine allocated $592mn “to guarantee the continuation of flights to and from the country” as airlines signalled their decisions to avoid Ukraine. While the financial support will help the situation domestically in Ukraine and reassure other foreign airlines that the intention is to keep airspace open, it’s the airlines that operate in Ukraine’s skies that will ultimately be decided by each respective airline operator.
The prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said the funds “were allocated to ensure flight safety in Ukraine for insurance and leasing companies” and would “stabilise the situation on the market of passenger air transportation and will guarantee the return to Ukraine of our citizens who are currently abroad”.
Several nations, including India’s government, are in talks with several airlines on temporarily increasing the number of flights from Ukraine to facilitate the return of citizens who want to leave the eastern European nation should the situation with Russia worsen.
Claims by Russia that it has withdrawn some of its forces from the border have been met by deep scepticism from Nato allies.
Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said so far the alliance had not seen any evidence of a Russian de-escalation. On the contrary, he said Russia appeared to be continuing its military build-up. Nato says Russia still has forces in place to carry out a full-scale invasion if that is what President Putin decides.
As countries issue warnings to airlines, the United States continues to remind airlines today: “The 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines MH17 demonstrates the risk to aircraft mistakenly targeted during periods of increased tensions”
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was an aircraft en-route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur in Summer 2014. The aircraft was tin the cruise phase of the flight above Ukraine on 17 July when it disappeared from radar. A total of 283 passengers, including 80 children, and 15 crew members were on board. The plane crashed after being hit by a Russian-made Buk missile over eastern Ukraine, a 15-month investigation by the Dutch Safety Board (DSB) found in October 2015.
In September 2016, an international team of criminal investigators said evidence showed the Buk missile had been brought in from Russian territory and was fired from a field controlled by Russian-backed separatists.
The Dutch-led joint investigation team (JIT) concluded in May 2018 that the missile system belonged to a Russian brigade, and Australia and the Netherlands announced both were holding Russia responsible for downing the aircraft. Then, in June 2019, the JIT named four men it alleged were involved in bringing the missile into the area in eastern Ukraine and charged them with the murders of 298 passengers and crew. It announced that international arrest warrants had been issued.
Aviation authorities and security agencies have determined the primary risk for operations near the Russia-Ukraine is that should hostilities escalate here, the airspace on both sides could be exposed to potential weapons activity posing a risk to civil aircraft from misidentification or miscalculation.
The risks of overflight of this area during tensions also stems from the risk of aircraft potentially receiving confusing and conflicting air traffic control instructions from both Ukrainian and Russian air traffic control. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and installed their own ATC for the region. However, Ukraine is responsible for the provision of ATC in the UKFV/Simferopol FIR and asks overflights to only speak to Ukrainian ATC.
Many foreign airlines have been avoiding parts, or all of Ukraine’s airspace for years, following the tragedy of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 — a passenger jet shot down by pro-Russian separatists.
Dutch airline KLM has cancelled flights to Ukraine until further notice, the company confirmed.
Norwegian, a European low-cost airline, is now avoiding Ukraine’s airspace “until further notice” the carrier has confirmed. Norwegian say: “We made this decision based on a comprehensive safety assessment. That is why we decided to suspend flights over Ukraine. Safety always comes first.” Norwegian does not fly directly to any airports in Ukraine, but some of its flights ordinarily operate via western parts of Ukrainian airspace (overflight) — including flights to Turkey.
Ukraine International Airlines, the country’s flag carrier airline, was told by insurers that the provider would be “terminating insurance of aircraft for all flights in Ukrainian airspace” — (a decision which could have potentially ground the entire airline). At the request of aircraft leasing companies (lessors), Ukraine’s national airline - UIA – was also forced to send 5 Boeing 737-800 jets out of Ukrainian airspace and over to Spain for storage.
Lufthansa said, like other airlines, it is “monitoring the situation in Ukraine very closely.” Governments of 39 countries have warned their citizens to leave Ukraine as soon as possible, according to the Ukrainian media.
Qatar Airways consolidated flights, temporarily reducing its operations in to Kyiv whilst it assesses the developing situation.
Both KLM and Lufthansa began rescheduling flights in January to avoid airline crews having to stay in the Ukrainian capital overnight as the build-up of Russian troops at the Ukrainian border intensified. The Irish low-cost airline Ryanair said in late January that it had reduced flights to and from the country.
“Airlines will need to negotiate Ukraine aviation cover with their insurers, with some of the required war risk policies now being agreed on a daily basis” a senior Lloyd’s market official told Reuters on Monday. For aviation, there are similarities to be drawn with the US-withdrawal of Afghanistan back in August 2021. The Taliban takeover of Kabul triggered a mass-exodus of airlines, as airline insurers pulled the plug on policies, and aircraft leasing companies demanded their jets leave Afghan airspace. "Most market leaders (insurers) gave 48 hours’ notice to exclude Ukraine as of Friday evening, which does not mean they have terminated or withdrawn cover. It means that there is an invitation to negotiate coverage,” the head of marine and aviation with the Lloyd’s Market Association told Reuters.
For Ukraine, in a bid to ensure airspace and air travel continuity amid heightened tensions, Ukraine allocated $592mn “to guarantee the continuation of flights to and from the country” as airlines signalled their decisions to avoid Ukraine. While the financial support will help the situation domestically in Ukraine and reassure other foreign airlines that the intention is to keep airspace open, it’s the airlines that operate in Ukraine’s skies that will ultimately be decided by each respective airline operator.
The prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said the funds “were allocated to ensure flight safety in Ukraine for insurance and leasing companies” and would “stabilise the situation on the market of passenger air transportation and will guarantee the return to Ukraine of our citizens who are currently abroad”.
Several nations, including India’s government, are in talks with several airlines on temporarily increasing the number of flights from Ukraine to facilitate the return of citizens who want to leave the eastern European nation should the situation with Russia worsen.
Claims by Russia that it has withdrawn some of its forces from the border have been met by deep scepticism from Nato allies.
Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said so far the alliance had not seen any evidence of a Russian de-escalation. On the contrary, he said Russia appeared to be continuing its military build-up. Nato says Russia still has forces in place to carry out a full-scale invasion if that is what President Putin decides.
As countries issue warnings to airlines, the United States continues to remind airlines today: “The 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines MH17 demonstrates the risk to aircraft mistakenly targeted during periods of increased tensions”
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was an aircraft en-route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur in Summer 2014. The aircraft was tin the cruise phase of the flight above Ukraine on 17 July when it disappeared from radar. A total of 283 passengers, including 80 children, and 15 crew members were on board. The plane crashed after being hit by a Russian-made Buk missile over eastern Ukraine, a 15-month investigation by the Dutch Safety Board (DSB) found in October 2015.
In September 2016, an international team of criminal investigators said evidence showed the Buk missile had been brought in from Russian territory and was fired from a field controlled by Russian-backed separatists.
The Dutch-led joint investigation team (JIT) concluded in May 2018 that the missile system belonged to a Russian brigade, and Australia and the Netherlands announced both were holding Russia responsible for downing the aircraft. Then, in June 2019, the JIT named four men it alleged were involved in bringing the missile into the area in eastern Ukraine and charged them with the murders of 298 passengers and crew. It announced that international arrest warrants had been issued.
* The author is an aviation analyst. Twitter handle: @AlexInAir
