Canada, Europe Close Airspace To Russian Aircraft

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The U.S. was under pressure Sunday to close its airspace to Russian aircraft operators now that most European nations and Canada have banned them. Despite its dim view of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. continued to welcome and dispatch Aeroflot flights as of late Sunday. But it also appears the airline suspended flights to the U.S. on Sunday. All flights to the U.S. on the airline’s website were listed as unavailable. The last flight out (AFL 111) may have been from Miami to Moscow and left Florida at 2:29 p.m. Nav Canada mistakenly allowed it to go through Canadian airspace and Transport Canada is investigating.

Canada’s decision to ban the Russians pretty much ended service to and from the U.S. All flights from Moscow to North America go through Canadian airspace. They also need to transit Danish (Greenland) airspace and Denmark is part of the European Union, which blocked flights earlier on Sunday. The closure of the northern routes apparently caused the Moscow-New York flight on Sunday to turn around. 

Russ Niles
Russ Niles is Editor-in-Chief of AVweb. He has been a pilot for 30 years and joined AVweb 22 years ago. He and his wife Marni live in southern British Columbia where they also operate a small winery.

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6 COMMENTS

  1. If you are flying in a war zone, and not involved in the war… well that is just stupid.
    The airspace being clear might help spotting the inbound nukes… maybe Washington will finally be ‘fixed’.

  2. “inbound nukes… maybe Washington will finally be ‘fixed’.”

    Let this be a reminder why it is important to get off the internet and couch in your mother’s basement.

  3. I’m fascinated – and surprised – by how many millenials recently have asked me, “How did you manage to live in the 1950s, without blowing yourselves up?”

    Short answer: “It wasn’t easy.”
    Vitally important answer: “Some of our leaders actually knew what they were doing.”

    In 1962, I lived two miles from Westover Air Force Base, which played a key role in the Cuba missile crisis. I knew what was going on.

    Competency and rationality allowed the world to dodge that bullet.

    Sixty years later, those two qualities are dangerously absent in our “leaders.”

    Danger, Will Robinson.

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