Lithuania bans all flights passing Belarus airspace May 25 amid Ryanair incident
<p> MINSK, May 24 - PrimePress. Lithuania has decided that all flights to and from Lithuanian airports must avoid the airspace of neighbouring Belarus, the transport minister said on Monday. </p> <p> </p> <p> Marius Skuodis said the ban would come into effect at 3 a.m. on May 25 (midnight GMT). </p> <p> </p> <p> Skuodis also noted that Polish airline LOT, Hungarian Wizz Air and Latvian AirBaltic voluntarily avoided the airspace of Belarus. </p> <p> </p> <p> Earlier, on 24 May, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said that the country would not allow flights that had crossed or planned to cross Belarusian airspace. </p> <p> </p> <p> The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will conduct an official investigation into the incident. Lithuania has already called on its European Union (EU) partners to recognize the Ryanair incident as a violation of ICAO rules, to suspend Belarus' membership in this organization and to recommend EU airlines to avoid Belarusian airspace until the investigation is completed. </p> <p> </p> <p> As previously reported, on 23 May, a Ryanair airline passenger aircraft flying from Athens to Vilnius made an emergency landing at Minsk National Airport after receiving information about an explosive device on board (the bomb report was not confirmed). While performing the manoeuvre, the Ryanair passenger jet was escorted by a Belarus Air Force MIG-29 fighter. Belarusian blogger and activist Roman Protasevich was on board the Ryanair plane and was detained. He is charged under three articles of the Criminal Code of Belarus and is on the international wanted list. End </p>
2021-05-25
Primepress
Lithuania bans all flights passing Belarus airspace May 25 amid Ryanair incident
MINSK, May 24 - PrimePress. Lithuania has decided that all flights to and from Lithuanian airports must avoid the airspace of neighbouring Belarus, the transport minister said on Monday.
Marius Skuodis said the ban would come into effect at 3 a.m. on May 25 (midnight GMT).
Skuodis also noted that Polish airline LOT, Hungarian Wizz Air and Latvian AirBaltic voluntarily avoided the airspace of Belarus.
Earlier, on 24 May, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said that the country would not allow flights that had crossed or planned to cross Belarusian airspace.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will conduct an official investigation into the incident. Lithuania has already called on its European Union (EU) partners to recognize the Ryanair incident as a violation of ICAO rules, to suspend Belarus' membership in this organization and to recommend EU airlines to avoid Belarusian airspace until the investigation is completed.
As previously reported, on 23 May, a Ryanair airline passenger aircraft flying from Athens to Vilnius made an emergency landing at Minsk National Airport after receiving information about an explosive device on board (the bomb report was not confirmed). While performing the manoeuvre, the Ryanair passenger jet was escorted by a Belarus Air Force MIG-29 fighter. Belarusian blogger and activist Roman Protasevich was on board the Ryanair plane and was detained. He is charged under three articles of the Criminal Code of Belarus and is on the international wanted list. End