Due to tensions between Ukraine and Russia and fears of possible hostilities, more and more airlines are flying around Ukraine.

"Flights over the Ukraine are generally not carried out," said Deutsche Lufthansa at the request of the FAZ.

According to reports, the group has been avoiding the country's airspace for long-distance connections to Asia for several weeks.

Timo Kotowski

Editor in Business.

  • Follow I follow

For intercontinental flights, airlines choose routes north or south, airlines on their way to Scandinavia also use routes further east via Russia.

On the flight platform Flightradar24 it can be seen that almost only scheduled aircraft are flying over Ukraine, which take off or land in the country - including Lufthansa jets.

It steers from Frankfurt and Munich to the capital Kiev and Lemberg in the west of the country.

The conflict area in the east on the border with Russia will not be crossed.

"This also corresponds to the assessment of national and international authorities," said a Lufthansa spokesman on the Ukraine flights.

KLM is not heading to Ukraine

The group still has 47 connections per week on schedule with its subsidiaries Austrian Airlines, Swiss, Brussels and Eurowings.

No decision has yet been made about their future.

“Lufthansa continues to monitor the situation closely,” it said.

The subsidiary brand Eurowings only started the Düsseldorf – Kiev connection in autumn 2021.

At that time it was said that the group offered a total of 70 Ukraine connections per week.

But the corona pandemic has also led to thinned-out plans.

KLM is one step further.

The Dutch company announced at the weekend as the first Western European airline that it would no longer serve Ukraine for the time being.

KLM justified this with a "comprehensive analysis of the security situation".

With a view to Ukraine and especially the eastern part of the country, airlines have become very cautious.

Pilot associations issue warnings

In 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing 298 people.

The flight also carried a KLM number.

An international investigative group concluded that a Russian-made anti-aircraft missile hit the plane.

It is expected that other airlines will follow KLM.

The international pilots' association Ifalpa and the European representation ECA warned in a joint statement that they were "seriously concerned" that, like in 2014, a false sense of security would arise.

The current situation seems to correspond to that of the MH17 shooting.

But it affects a much larger area.

According to its own statements, the low-cost airline Wizzair, which is strongly represented in Eastern Europe, is observing the development.

The Wizzair share lost more than 7 percent in trading on Monday, the Lufthansa price fell by more than 3 percent.

Kiev fears loss of international connections

Concern is growing in Kiev that the country is at risk of losing its connection to international air traffic because of the crisis.

The government announced that it would provide the equivalent of 520 million euros to ensure air traffic in its airspace in the current situation.

The high sum suggests that it is not about distributing financial incentives to airlines, but about creating security for them.

Ukraine International (UIA) announced on Monday that insurers had canceled coverage for flights in domestic airspace.

UIA must therefore bring five aircraft to Spain at the request of the lessor.

Previously, the Ukrainian Skyup Airlines had to cancel a holiday return flight from Madeira to Kiev.

Skyup explained that insurers no longer wanted to cover aircraft in the country's airspace.

Aircraft lessors have called for leased aircraft to be returned to the EU.

The passengers on the Skyup flight had to disembark in Moldova, neighboring Ukraine, and were taken to Kiev by bus.

Skyup initially suspended ticket sales for flights planned for the next few days.

"The current situation requires a government solution," Skyup boss Dmytro Seroukhov was quoted as saying.

The United States had issued warnings of a possible impending Russian invasion.

The Federal Foreign Office in Berlin has also issued a travel warning for Ukraine, stating that a military conflict cannot be ruled out.