Closing Airspace

From the CBC:

“Canada closes airspace to Russian aircraft operators”

Canada is closing its airspace to Russian aircraft operators effective immediately, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said Sunday. Alghabra announced the move in a tweet Sunday morning, Canada's latest response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine earlier this week. The decision aligns Canadian policy with many European nations that announced similar decisions over the past several days. Russian-owned aircraft are banned from airspace above Germany, the U.K., France, Italy, the Baltic states and others. Those policies leave much of European airspace closed to Russian planes.

As late as Friday, this country's airspace remained open to Russian carriers, but the Transport Department was considering options and working with allies, Alghabra told The Canadian Press. Russia's flagship carrier Aeroflot operates multiple flights per day through Canadian airspace en route to the U.S. and beyond. The decision announced Sunday will add hours to some flights and make others "impossible," said aerospace consultant Ross Aimer. Russia has responded by banning commercial flights from the U.K., Poland, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. Canada also levied what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described as "severe, co-ordinated sanctions" on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle. On Saturday, North American and European countries, in a move backed by Canada, said they would cut some Russian banks off from the crucial SWIFT financial communications system.

Ukraine has sought no-fly zone The decision announced Sunday applies to Canada's own airspace. It's distinct from a Ukrainian request to establish a no-fly zone over its airspace, aimed at stopping Russian airstrikes. Speaking to Canadian media Friday, Ukrainian MPs appealed for direct action. "We need assistance to be able to wake up on Monday morning in an independent and free Ukraine," said Lesia Vasylenko. A Western-backed no-fly zone is "not going to happen," retired Canadian Forces lieutenant-general Andrew Leslie, a former Liberal MP, told CBC's Power & Politics on Friday. Leslie said a no-fly zone would need to be enforced by Western militaries and bring American pilots directly into conflict with Russian forces, risking intense escalation and possible nuclear conflict. "I've never thought that we were closer to nuclear war, world war three, now than any other time in my previous 35 years in the army." Defence Minister Anita Anand told CBC's The House on Friday that a no-fly zone was "not on the table at the current time."

^ Canada joins Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and the Czech Republic in banning Russian Commercial and Private Airplanes and Helicopters from their airspace.

All 27 member countries of the European Union have just announced a complete ban on all Russian Private and Public Airlines.

Delta Airlines (based out of the US) has ended its Codeshare Agreement with Russia's Aeroflot Airlines.

I believe every single country (with free-thinking People) should also join in banning Russian Planes. ^

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-closes-airspace-russian-planes-1.6366268