Sweden prepares to shut airspace to Russian planes

[Celerity]

Sweden is preparing to quickly close Swedish airspace to Russian flights, Swedish EU Minister Hans Dahlgren said on Sunday.

https://www.thelocal.se/20220227/sweden-prepares-to-shut-airspace-to-russian-planes/



“It is now absolutely necessary to proceed with further tough measures to isolate Russia,” Dahlgren told public service radio SR. The Minister said the most effective course of action would be for EU countries to make a joint decision.

Sweden will push for such a flight ban at a meeting of EU foreign ministers scheduled later today, which could form part of the latest package of sanctions against Russia.

Many EU member states have already closed their airspaces to Russian aircraft, while a more concrete decision could soon follow. “We want this to happen as quickly as possible and the best and fastest way is if we can get a common EU decision,” said Dahlgren.

“The background is, of course, that we want to go ahead with even more and sharper efforts to isolate Russia. One such effort is to close Swedish airspace and, better still, the whole of European airspace to Russian flights,” he went on to say.

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[WarGamer]

1. Just curious... US State advised Americans in Russia to GTFO...

With all the closed airspace, how are they supposed to get out?

Take a train to St. Petersburg and ferry to Helsinki? Or is the ferry canceled?

[dpibel]

2. I'd almost wager

that aeroplanes departing Russia can fly east.

[WarGamer]

3. true... Moscow to Dubai to LAX...

Or Istanbul... but I'd rather fly Emirates if I were there. Just a long ass flight

[GregariousGroundhog]

4. The quickest route between the United States and Russia by air is over the North Pole

A plane destined for Seattle or Los Angeles could fly over Alaska without having to over any other nation's air space. If I had to evacuate U.S. citizens from Russia, I would probably fly them on chartered flights from major Russian cities to Anchorage and let them catch normal flights from there. Alternatively, I'm sure Canada would allow a certain number of flights in their airspace if the United States asked nicely.