Poland has moved to close its airspace to Russian airlines in response to the invasion of Ukraine. The ban is due to be implemented at midnight today.
The decision was announced by Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, this afternoon. “I have ordered the preparation of a resolution that will lead to the closure of the airspace over Poland to Russian airlines,” he wrote.
Government spokesman Piotr Müller confirmed that the new regulations are being “processed immediately” and that the “ban will apply from midnight”.
Stosowne przepisy są niezwłocznie procedowane. Zakaz będzie obowiązywał od północy. https://t.co/6IOxDqmvMA
— Piotr Müller (@PiotrMuller) February 25, 2022
A Polish opposition politician, Kamil Heyka, had this morning drawn attention to the fact that Russian planes were using Polish airspace as their main corridor into Europe.
“Why don’t we block this traffic with a demand for a ceasefire? Has nothing happened? Does the invasion of our neighbours not move us,” he tweeted.
Polska przestrzeń powietrzna stała się jednym z głównych korytarzy dla rosyjskich linii lotniczych. Dlaczego nie zablokujemy tego ruchu z żądaniem wstrzymania ognia? Nic się nie stało? Inwazja na naszych sąsiadów nas nie rusza?
Zdj. samoloty Aeroflot nad Polską pic.twitter.com/BMbmceaQZV— Kamil Heyka (@KamilHeyka) February 25, 2022
There had also been speculation that a decision to close airspace – which is within the remit of each country – would be coordinated by the European Union, as was the case with Belarusian airlines following a plane hijacking last year.
As part of its sanctions package announced yesterday, the United Kingdom introduced an immediate ban on Russia’s national airline, Aeroflot, landing at its airports. In response to what it deemed to be “unfriendly decisions by the UK aviation authorities”, Russia also banned British planes from its airspace today.
According to estimates from the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (PANSA), a state body, in mid-February between 970 and 1,110 flights were running between Russian and other European countries every day, of which between 250 and 350 were to or from Poland.
Due to safety concerns, Poland has already stopped all flights from its territory to Ukraine, which has closed its airspace to commercial flights. Yesterday, Poland’s broadcast regulator announced that it was removing Russian TV channels from the air.
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Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.
