How the invasion of Ukraine impacted global aviation

Just as the global aviation industry seemed to be recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, it was struck by another challenge when Russia invaded Ukraine. War has been raging for one month now, resulting in the deaths of thousands of people, while millions have fled their homes. 

AeroTime takes a look at the major developments in aviation over the past month, since the invasion began on February 24, 2022.   

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Air connections shut down 

As tensions escalated between Russia and Ukraine in early February 2022, some major carriers started suspending flights to the capital city of Ukraine, Kyiv. Among them, Air France-KLM, Vueling, and Lufthansa Group airlines, including Lufthansa (LHAB) (LHA), Swiss and Austrian Airlines, all halted flights to Kyiv-Boryspil International Airport (KBP) because of the situation. 

By February 23, 2022, only the country’s flag carrier, Ukrainian International Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Latvian carrier airBaltic, and low-cost carriers Ryanair and Wizz Air were still operating flights to and from Ukrainian airports. 

On February 24, 2022, as bombs hit Boryspil International Airport, Ukraine closed its airspace to commercial operations. In the following days, multiple civilian airports were targeted by Russian armed forces as a way to isolate Ukraine from military and humanitarian support.  

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency advised air operators to "exercise extreme caution and avoid using the airspace within 100 nautical miles [185 kilometers - ed. note] of the Bielorussian and Russia-Ukraine border." 

Now, anyone looking at a flight tracking site can’t help but notice the large empty space over Ukraine.