VILNIUS – The Lithuanian government on May 26 banned Belarusian air carriers from entering Lithuania’s airspace.
The ban enters into force at 3:00 a.m. on May 27, primarily applying to the Belarusian state-owned airline Belavia, which announced on May 24 that it was suspending flights to Lithuania.
“The European Council drew quite clear conclusions in which it said that Belarusian air carriers should be banned from using EU airspace,” Lithuanian Transport Minister Marius Skuodis said at a government meeting.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency on May 25 advised all European air carriers to avoid Belarusian airspace. Lithuania, in turn, was among the first countries on May 25 to ban planes transiting Belarusian airspace from using its airports.
Latvia, Ukraine, Sweden, the United Kingdom, France, and the Czech Republic have banned Belavia’s flights to its airports.
