Greece to Extend Air Directives Banning Russian and Belarusian Flights Over Its Airspace Until September 22

In a press release issued last Friday, June 24, the Greek Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport stressed that the air directives banning the flights of Russian and Belarusian aircraft in the national airspace of Greece will remain effective until the end of summer, at least,AtoZSerwisPlus.comreports.

According to the Ministry, the aviation directives banning civil aircraft from flying over the airspace of Moldova and Belarus remain in force as well due to the high risk in these areas as a result of the war in Ukraine.

The new prolongation of the air directives will be effective until September 22, 2022.

Previously, on May 24, the Ministry had extended the ban on Russian flights and other aircraft in its national airspace.

Through a statement, the authorities stated that the same norm applies to Ukrainian airspace, while civil flights over the Moldovan and Belarusian airspace are also banned.

“The aviation directive on the closure of Ukrainian airspace and the ban on the passage of civilian aircraft in the airspace of Moldova and Belarus also remains in force due to the high risk in these areas as a result of the war in Ukraine,” the statement reads.

The extension was set to remain valid until the end of this month, but now the same has been extended for another three months, until September 22.

This is just one of the latest sanctions that continue to apply to Russia, which on several occasions now has violated the bans on its aircraft by the EU Member States. In particular, Denmark and Sweden previously revealed that they had summoned Russian ambassadors for a possible violation of their airspace by Russian aircraft.

In this regard, Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Koford said that a Russian plane entered the Danish airspace of the island of Bornholm – calling this act unacceptable and particularly disturbing in the current situation.

At the same time, Sweden, which earlier this month formally applied to join NATO, also claimed that a Russian spy plane had crossed its airspace, prompting the Swedish Foreign Ministry to summon the Russian ambassador to Stockholm.

Otherwise, this is the second time the Russian plane has been caught flying near NATO airspace. Two years ago, in 2020, a Russian fighter jet pursued a US B-52 bomber over Denmark, which was also hailed as a “significant violation” of NATO airspace.

Ukraine’s ongoing war has hit Europe hard, as the continent was about to emerge from an almost-two-year-long pandemic, which has particularly affected the tourism, travel, and aviation industries.