World airlines began to suspend flights over Belarus

The Finnish airline Finnair suspend flights in the airspace of Belarus to a special order. The carrier reported this on Twitter , adding that the rejection of flights over the territory of Belarus will lead to lengthening flights.

The French Air France also announced the suspension of similar flights. This was reported by TASS with reference to the data of the France-Presse agency. "Air France got acquainted with the conclusions of the European Council and suspend the flights of its aircraft in the airspace of Belarus to further notification," the company noted. They added that crews of aircraft on the way will receive changes in flight plans.

Singapore Airlines also changed part of the routes of their flights so that its planes do not fly over the territory of Belarus. The Kazakhstan Air Astana airline canceled the launch of Almaty -Minsk flights, which was planned on May 31, Informburo.kz reports with reference to the press service of the air carrier. Notifications to passengers on the cancellation of the flight were sent on May 20. However, Air Astana does not specify the reason for the cancellation of the flight to Belarus.

The Belarusian Belavia Belarusian airline in turn cancels flights to London and Paris from May 25 to October 30, 2021. "We are upset by the current situation, which is not able to change. We apologize to the passengers," the company's website says. Passengers can return the full cost of tickets without fines or change the departure date for the validity period of the air ticket (1 year from the date of purchase for completely unused tickets, 1 year from the start of the flight for partially used tickets). To do this, they need to contact the place of purchase of air tickets.

The night before, the EU summit made a political decision to ban the flights of Belarusian airlines to the European Union. The summit participants turned to all European airlines with an appeal to stop flying over Belarus in connection with the "unacceptable actions of the Belarusian government" and the arrest of Roman Protasevich. In the European Union, the actions of the Belarusian authorities are considered "contradicting basic democratic norms and freedom of speech," as they have expedient to the life of European citizens aboard this aircraft and its crew.

The chairman of the European Parliament David Sassoli, speaking at the EU summit, told European leaders about the need for a decisive and unified response of the European Union to the Ryanair incident in Belarus. "Yesterday's events associated with the forced landing in Minsk Ryanair, which followed from Athens to Vilnius, is unprecedentedly serious. The President Lukashenko’s regime deprived Roman Protasevich and his companion. We demand their immediate and unconditional liberation and granting them the opportunity to leave the country," the head of the European Parliament said.

According to him, "an international investigation is undoubtedly necessary to verify whether there was a threat of air transport and security of passengers from the sovereign state and whether the Chicago Convention was violated."

“Our answer should be decisive, immediate and united. The European Union must act without hesitation and punish the perpetrators. Today you are very responsible for showing that the Union is not a paper tiger,” Sasssoli emphasized.

EU leaders advocated the introduction of new sanctions against Belarus in connection with the incident with the landing of the Ryanair aircraft in Minsk. In the EU summit, it is noted that the European Union also “calls on the advice to accept additional (sanctions) lists in relation to individuals and legal entities, and as soon as possible.” However, the statement does not indicate which companies and individuals could fall under the sanctions of the EU. In addition, the EU summit called on ICAO to urgently investigate what happened to the Ryanair aircraft in Minsk as an "unprecedented and unacceptable incident."

Great Britain has already suspended the license of the Belarusian Belavia Belarusian airline for flights to the United Kingdom, and the aircraft of British airlines will be forbidden to fly over the territory of Belarus. Ukraine will also respond to the actions of Minsk.

Also, the intention to stop flying over Belarus was stated by Wizzair (Hungary), Lufthansa (Germany), KLM (Netherlands), Sas (Denmark, Norway, Sweden), Cyprus Avia Solutions and Austrian Austrian Airline, the rain reports.

At the same time, the Federal Air Transport Agency stated that the flights of Russian airlines to Belarus and through its airspace are carried out as usual "within the framework of existing agreements on the basis of a bilateral air report agreement." About this writes "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" .