A flight from Madeira, Portugal to Kiev was banned from entering Ukraine on Sunday due to the crisis with Russia and was forced to land in Moldova, said son operator.
The low-cost Carrier SkyUp said clearance for the flight to cross Ukraine was removed to last minute by the Irish aircraft leasing company.
“Despite the airline best efforts and the Ukraine governmentwillingness to talk to the leasing company, the owner of the aircraft flatly refused (permission to enter Ukraine) once the aircraft already on son way”SkyUp said in a statement.
SkyUp said it was trying to arrange a transfer for the 175 passengers on the flight from the Moldovan capital Chisinau to Kiev.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said it was helping to organize buses for diverted passengers, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The incident came a day after Dutch carrier KLM suspended flights to Ukraine until further notice due to growing fears that Russia is preparing a invasion of the former Soviet state. KLM, part of Air France, said it would immediately stop flying to Ukraine, news the ANP agency reported.
A growth group of European and other nations are urging their citizens to leave Ukraine. The United States Embassy in Kyiv on Saturday ordered the evacuation of personnel non-emergency.
Industry analysts believe that other international airlines can also ban flights to Ukraine soon car of The growth cost to travel insurers.
the international the travel industry is still nervous following the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, which was shot down down near a conflict zone in Eastern Ukraine in July 2014, killing all 298 people on board.
During this time, a senior Ukrainian official noted on Sunday that Ukraine sees no point in closing son airspace in the middle of an escalation with Russia.
“The most important point is that Ukraine itself sees no interest in closing of the sky. It does not make sense. And, in my opinion, it looks a bit like a genre of partial blockade, ”said Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian president of Staff. “So special air the carriers decide to reconfigure the flight schedulethat certainly has nothing to do with the decisions or policies of our state,” he told Reuters.
Washington said the Russian military who has more more than 100,000 troops massed near Ukraine, could invade at any time. Moscow denies having such a plan and called the warnings “hysteria”.
