US President Joe Biden has announced that the US will close its airspace to Russian flights, joining several European countries and Canada who have done the same. The announcement was made during the president’s State of the Union speech today.
Several European countries and Canada had closed their airspace to Russian flights earlier this week following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The US following suit will have massive affects on Russian civil aviation.
On Monday, The Federal Air Transport Agency of Russia announced that it had in-turn banned airlines from European countries including Albania, Anguilla, Austria, Belgium, British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark (including Greenland, the Faroe Islands), Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK.
The ban means that Russian passenger and private aircrafts cannot land or take off from US soil or use US airspace. “Tonight I’m announcing that we will join our allies in closing off American airspace to all Russian flights, further isolating Russia and adding additional squeeze on their economy,” President Joe Biden said.
The aviation restrictions follow a flurry of sanctions announced by the US targeting the Russia economy.