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As Ukraine stops flights, here's how European airspace looks with huge hole
Hundreds of flights had to be diverted after Ukraine closed its airspace following the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine tension on Thursday morning. The Air India flight which had to come back took off minutes after the airspace closure notice was sent to all operators and pilots.
With Ukraine closing its airspace off following Russia's full-blown attack on Thursday, several hundreds of flights had to be cancelled and diverted creating a huge hold in the east European airspace. According to reports, the airspace closure led to a 1,000-mile hole in east European airspace, as seen on flight tracker Flight Radar.
The flights were diverted around Ukraine after the closure. Some flights had to do a u-turn to Romania, some flights were placed in a brief holding pattern. A formal notice was sent to pilots and operators warning of the "potential hazard for civil aviation."
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Ukraine International Airlines suspended its scheduled and chartered flights to and from Ukraine. "Passengers of cancelled flights will be informed by e-mail or phone, which are specified in the reservation. Passengers, please, check the availability of relevant contact information at Ukraine International Airlines - e-mail, individual mobile phone number," said a statement of the airline.
Wizz Air said it was working to evacuate its Ukrainian based crew, their families and four aircraft on Thursday after Russia's invasion forced it to suspend all operations in the country.
"Due to the current events in Ukraine and the airspace closure, Wizz Air regrets to inform our customers that the airline must temporarily suspend all flight operations in the country," the airline said.
The Air India flight which took off from Delhi to bring back Indians from Ukraine had to return from midway. The flight took off a few minutes after the notice was issued.
(With inputs from agencies)
