Ukraine Closed to Civilian Flights
All of Ukraine was closed to civilian aircraft early Thursday morning following Russia’s invasion of the country. European air safety regulator EASA issued a “conflict zone information bulletin” requiring all EU airlines – and anyone with common sense – to avoid flying through Ukrainian airspace, and to use extreme caution at any point within 100 miles of Belarus’s and Russia’s borders with Ukraine.
Most carriers have been suspending fully or greatly reducing service to Ukraine in the last few days to avoid having people or equipment stuck in the country. Ryanair announced a 14-day suspension to the country, and said it would remove flights to the country for sale for at least four weeks. Wizz Air has at least four airplanes and an unspecified number of staff in the country that it is working to evacuate.
Ukraine International Airlines announced it was suspending all flights until midnight tonight, at which point it would reassess the situation in consultation with Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Infrastructure. We can’t imagine it restarting any time soon.
UK Bans Aeroflot
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson banned Russian flag carrier and Skyteam member Aeroflot from operating to the country or using its airspace.
The announcement from the prime minister was part of a series of sanctions leveled against the Russian government by the United Kingdom. Aeroflot normally operates one daily flight from Moscow/SVO to London/Heathrow. Aeroflot flight 2578 operated to Heathrow as normal today, landing at 12:05 p.m. before turning around and flying the return service to Moscow, but that’s expected to be the final Aeroflot service to the country for the time being.
Along with the ban, English Premier League team Manchester United is likely to end its nine-year association with the carrier. Aeroflot is a sponsor of the team and provides charter service when the team flies for matches within Europe. The team canceled their Aeroflot service to Madrid on Tuesday using UK-based charter airline Titan Airways instead.
Passengers booked on Aeroflot to or from London can reach out to Russian president Vladimir Putin to discuss refund or rebooking options.
Government Sale of SAA Completed
The South African government completed a sale for 51% of formerly state-owned carrier South African Airways to its preferred partner – the Takatso Corporation – with the sale now awaiting approval from regulatory agencies.
The price of the sale was not disclosed, but Takatso is expected to invest about $200 million in the carrier in the near-term to support operations and payroll. The government is expected to put another $120 million into the airline despite the sale, that cash earmarked to settle SAA’s considerable mango-scented debts.
SAA returned to service on September 1 of last year and is bleeding cash. It expects to reintroduce long-haul service later this year. It’s been exclusively flying short-haul, regional routes since resuming operations.
- Aer Lingus restarts its service between Dublin and San Francisco tomorrow. To celebrate, the carrier will have a fog machine on board.
- Air New Zealand clearly lost a bet with someone, as the carrier plans to launch a new route to Newark later this year.
- Air Serbia is adding a second A330.
- Air Transat named the very French Canadian-sounding Marc-Philippe Lumpé as its new COO.
- airBaltic took delivery of an A220-300 yesterday, its 33rd of the aircraft type. One more and its eligible for a free dessert with a full meal purchase at the Airbus employee café in Toulouse.
- Airhub Airlines added its first A330-300.
- China Southern is retiring its A380 fleet, a blow to all A380 fans in the south of China.
- Flair will be adding flare to Waterloo Airport (YKF), basing a third aircraft there.
- Frontier‘s latest frontier is Kingston, Jamaica (KIN). It’ll operate to Kingston 3x-weekly from Miami beginning May 5.
- IndiGo Airlines co-founder Rakesh Gangwal is taking his ball and going home.
I’m thinking about having my ashes stored in a glass jar once I’m gone.
Remains to be seen.