Ukraine says skies safe as airlines continue to suspend flights over Ukranian airspace
Categories: FOREIGN COUNTRIES
The Ukraine-Russia conflict has taken a new turn after Russian President declared Eastern Ukraine a separate territory irking world leaders. With the conflict taking new shape everyday, airlines are avoiding the Ukraine airspace for safety of passengers. Almost every other airline is avoiding Ukrainian skies for transit while many have suspended international flights from Kyiv, the capital. "The current cancellation of flights by a number of foreign airlines is dictated solely by the information aggravation of the situation, and not by real changes in flight safety," Infrastructure Minister Oleksander Kubrakov told a news briefing. He did not name the airlines and said that "the state is working to replace cancelled flights". Kubrakov said Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) had already opened ticket sales and increased the capacity of aircraft on additional flights from Kyiv to Munich and Geneva, which Lufthansa was unable to operate. UIA said 13 planes were still active. The airline has a total of 26 aircraft in its fleet but nine of those left the country last week for storage sites in Europe - including seven on Feb. 14 alone, according to Flightradar24 tracking data.