Denmark closed its airspace off to Russian aircraft in response to the latter country’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in a decision confirmed by Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod on Sunday.
For Danes and residents of Denmark, that could cause difficulties travelling to and from Russia, given that Russia on Monday reciprocated European countries’ flight bans by blocking aircraft from 36 countries, including Denmark and the entire EU as well as the UK, from entering its airspace.
The Russian decision came after the EU – not just Denmark – had forbidden Russian planes from using its airspace.
Aircraft from the following countries and territories are now banned from entering Russia:
Albania, Anguilla, Austria, Belgium, British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark (including Greenland and Faroe Islands), Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Jersey, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, United Kingdom, Sweden.
The bans make travelling between the two countries by air impossible without rerouting through a third country which is unaffected by the decisions.
This means that longer routes will be required for travel from Denmark to some international destinations, particularly in East Asia.
Other routes from northern Europe most likely to be affected are those to the Middle East, India, Thailand and Australia.
“(Airlines) might need extra fuel or maybe won’t be able to operate the service without a stopover,” Paul Hulme Harrison, deputy chair with the Danish Engineers’ Association’s (Ingeniørforeningen) aviation society, told news wire Ritzau.
The Danish Chamber of Commerce (Dansk Erhverv) said that it expects the closure of Russian airspace to result in cancellations on direct routes between the EU and countries such as China, Japan and South Korea.
“That means that passengers from Europe will have to take a significantly longer reroute with more stops if they are going to the Far East, for example,” Jesper Kronborg, director of the organisation’s transport sector, told Ritzau in a written comment.
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