Multinational airlines will fly around Belarus?

Adjustment is difficult and costly

　　According to foreign media reports, on May 23 local time, an Irish Ryanair passenger plane made an emergency landing at Minsk International Airport, the capital of Belarus.

Leaders of some European countries believe that the Belarusian government deliberately forced the plane to land in order to arrest its wanted opposition figures, but Belarus denied this statement.

　　The EU launched sanctions on Belarus on the evening of the 24th, including prohibiting Belarusian airlines from using the airspace and airports of 27 EU member states, and calling on EU-based airlines not to fly over Belarusian airspace.

EU leaders also agreed to impose more sanctions on Belarus, including economic sanctions.

Belarus emphasized that its actions conform to international standards.

Grounded: close airspace and fly around Belarus

　　European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday that the EU would “close its airspace to aircraft from Belarus” and called on EU airlines not to fly over Belarus.

She added, "Further economic sanctions will be introduced soon."

　　The United Kingdom announced the withdrawal of the Belarusian Airlines license and required British flights to avoid Belarusian airspace.

　　At the same time that the EU announced sanctions, major European airlines issued statements stating that they would avoid the sky over Belarus.

　　On the evening of the 24th, Lufthansa spokesman Tal Maskar said in a statement, “In view of the current dynamic situation, we suspend flights in Belarusian airspace.” Lufthansa’s sister company Austrian Airlines also suspended flights. Flights from Belarusian airspace.

These two airlines are the country's main airlines flying to other countries.

　　Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) said in a statement on the 24th that it will follow the instructions to change the twice-weekly flight routes between the Norwegian capital Oslo and the Ukrainian capital Kiev. Open the airspace of Belarus, "and maintain close contact with aviation authorities and follow their instructions."

　　Latvian national airlines AirBaltic and Hungary's Wizz Air even stated that they would avoid flying over Belarusian airspace even before the EU sanctions were announced.

　　The Belarusian State News Agency reported on the 23rd that the airliner involved in the incident landed at Minsk International Airport due to bomb threats that day.

After inspection, the aircraft did not find an explosive device, and then took off again and landed in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.

The Aviation Administration of the Ministry of Transport of Belarus announced on the 24th that the country has established an investigation committee on the incident.

　　In a statement published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, the spokesperson Anatoly Glaz called the European leaders’ sanctions statement “open and combative” and guaranteed that the investigation was “completely transparent” and willing to accept it. Experts participate in and provide materials related to the event.

He said, "There is no doubt that the actions of our competent authorities are also in full compliance with established international rules."

Cost: East-west flights from Asia to Europe are costly

　　Ryanair’s chief executive, Michael O'leary, said on the 24th that the airline has few flights over Belarus and that changing the route to over Poland would be “a very small adjustment”.

But some analysts say that for some European airlines, avoiding Belarusian airspace will be a difficult and expensive move.

　　Although Minsk, the capital of Belarus, is not a major European aviation hub, several major international airlines have flights to the airport, including Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and Turkish Airlines.

American airlines such as American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines also provide flights to Minsk through cooperation with European Airlines and Belavia.

　　According to data from the global flight real-time dynamic information service network (Flightradar24), last week, about 3,300 flights passed through Belarusian airspace, and about one-fifth of the flights took off and landed in the country.

　　An analyst from the research and consulting company Eurasia Group wrote in a report on the 24th that it is feasible for north-south flights to avoid Belarusian airspace, but east-west flights between Asia and Europe require It will be very expensive to bypass Belarus.

　　Previously, European airlines had avoided Ukrainian airspace due to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and now they have to avoid Belarusian airspace, which is very troublesome for some flights.

Earlier, the war between Georgia and Russia also caused many routes to be diverted, and airlines' routes in Europe may be adjusted at any time.

　　Chengdu Commercial Daily-Red Star News reporter Jiang Yijin