Canada & European Union close airspace to all Russian aircraft operators

In a move that holds Russia “accountable for its unprovoked attacks against Ukraine,” Canada, as well as the 27-country European Union, have closed their airspace to Russian aircraft, it was announced Sunday (Feb. 27).

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra took to Twitter Sunday afternoon to announce the measure, representing Ottawa's latest response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine last week.

"All of Canada is united in its outrage of President Putin's aggression against Ukraine. In response, we have closed Canadian airspace to Russian-owned or operated aircraft. The Government of Canada condemns Russia's aggressive actions, and we will continue to take action to stand with Ukraine,” Minister Alghabra said in a statement.

READ MORE: Cruise lines drop Russian, Ukrainian ports from 2022 voyages after invasion

The airspace closure, which prohibits the operation of Russian-owned, chartered or operated aircraft in Canadian airspace, will remain in effect until further notice, the Government of Canada said in a statement on its website.

It will, for example, bar Russia's flagship carrier, Aeroflot, from operating multiple flights per day through Canadian airspace en route to the United States and beyond.

"Canada will continue to do everything it can against the Russian regime's aggression. We are united with our allies in our unwavering support to Ukraine and are working to bring this unprovoked war to an end,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly in a statement.

Despite the ban, however, an Aeroflot flight - Aeroflot Flight 111 - still managed to violate the flight restriction yesterday after Minister Alghabra's announcement. 

Flight 111 flies from Miami to Moscow and the plane took off at 3:12 p.m. EST, according to FlightRadar24.

"We are aware that Aeroflot flight 111 violated the prohibition put in place earlier today on Russian flights using Canadian airspace," Transport Canada tweeted yesterday. "We are launching a review of the conduct of Aeroflot and the independent air navigation service provider, NAVCAN, leading up to this violation. We will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action and other measures to prevent future violations."

EU moves 

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a similar move on Sunday for the EU’s entire bloc, formalizing an airspace closure that many nations had already introduced.

“…we are shutting down the EU airspace for Russian-owned, Russian registered or Russian-controlled aircraft,” Von der Leyen tweeted Sunday. “They won’t be able to land in, take off or overfly the territory of the EU. Including the private jets of oligarchs.”

Von der Leyen also said the EU would provide direct military aid to a country under attack, as it plans to finance the purchase and delivery of weapons to Ukraine. She also said it would ban some pro-Russian media outlets.

"The state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik, and their subsidiaries, will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin’s war. We are developing tools to ban their toxic and harmful disinformation in Europe," Von der Leyen tweeted. 

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