Baltic states block airspace for Russian planes

TALLINN/RIGA/VILNIUS (dpa-AFX) – The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will close their airspace to Russian planes because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The ban will apply to aircraft operated by air carriers with licenses issued by the Russian Federation from midnight on Sunday. The closure of the airspace of the three EU and NATO countries will take place simultaneously and indefinitely, the Ministry of Transport in Vilnius announced on Saturday. There should be exceptions for emergency landings and humanitarian flights. Poland, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria had previously blocked their airspace for Russian aircraft./awe/DP/stk