U.S. to Ban Russian Flights From American Airspace
The U.S. government will ban Russian aircraft from American airspace, broadening aviation restrictions as the West expands sanctions over the war in Ukraine, President Biden said Tuesday during his State of the Union address.
“Tonight I am announcing that we will join our allies in closing off American air space to all Russian flights—further isolating Russia—and adding an additional squeeze on their economy,” Mr. Biden said.
Orders blocking Russian aircraft and airlines from entering U.S. airspace will be effective by the end of Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday evening.
The sweeping orders will mean any plane owned, certified, operated, registered, chartered, leased, or controlled by, for, or for the benefit of a person who is a citizen of Russia will be prohibited from flying over the U.S., the agencies said. The prohibition applies to scheduled and charter passenger and cargo flights.
The U.S. move, earlier reported by The Wall Street Journal, follows prohibitions by European and Canadian authorities. The restrictions, which Russia has retaliated against by issuing a similar ban on European and Canadian flights, have choked off Russia’s access to large swaths of the world as its invasion of Ukraine escalates.
Reciprocal flight bans have upended global aviation networks, forcing airlines to scrap flights and take more circuitous routes in some cases.
After the European and Canadian restrictions,
PJSC, the country’s national flag carrier, said it had halted all its flights to European destinations.
said the closure of Canada’s airspace meant it would also cancel trans-Atlantic routes, including flights to the U.S., Mexico and Cuba, from Feb. 28 through March 2. Aeroflot said earlier Tuesday that it plans to operate some flights from Mexico and the Dominican Republic to help Russians return home.
In March, Aeroflot was scheduled to operate dozens of flights to and from U.S. cities including New York, Miami and Los Angeles, according to Cirium, an aviation data provider.
U.S. passenger carriers don’t operate nonstop flights to Russia, but its airspace is part of a corridor for many long-haul flights to Asia, including air-cargo services.
United Airlines Holdings Inc.,
which typically flies over Russia en route to India, said Tuesday that it would stop flying through Russian airspace.
Delta Air Lines Inc.
and
have also stopped flying through Russian airspace.
Cargo flights to and from Asia from North America account for one-quarter of global freight traffic, according to the International Air Transport Association. Airline executives said the majority heading to East Asia currently traveled through Russian airspace.
U.S. administration officials have been concerned about disruptions to a supply chain already frayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Large cargo carriers on Tuesday continued to cross Russia on routes to Asia from North America and the Middle East, including planes operated by
FedEx Corp.
and
Korean Air Lines Co.
—Doug Cameron and Ken Thomas contributed to this article.
Write to Alison Sider at [email protected] and Andrew Tangel at [email protected]
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Appeared in the March 2, 2022, print edition as ‘U.S. Set To Close Airspace To Russia.’
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