Latvia-based Air Baltic has temporarily suspended overnight flights to and from Ukraine until the end of February as geopolitical situation in the country worsens. As a result of the suspension, the flag carrier says it has cancelled five overnight rotations between Kiev and Riga as well as two rotations between Odessa and Riga. Air Baltic plans to continue to provide flights from Kiev to both Riga and Vilnius. The airline notes that it is evaluating the current situation before each flight and following the recommendations issued by official authorities. Air Baltic says it is flexible and ready to adjust its flight schedule if necessary. Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin escalated tensions on 21 February by recognising the independence of separatist Donetsk and Luhansk, located in Ukraine’s east, and by ordering Russian troops into those regions.

Several western European-based carriers have begun cancelling services to Ukraine as fears of a Russian invasion mount amid rising tensions. SAS has announced that it will cancel its weekly service between Oslo and Kiev, the Scandinavian group’s only Ukrainian service, on 22 February, avoiding the country’s airspace entirely until a risk assessment is conducted on 27 February. A further decision on whether to resume services will be taken on 1 March, the carrier says. This follows a decision by KLM to indefinitely suspend flights to Kiev on 12 February after the Dutch government reset its travel advice as “code red”. KLM has not flown over the eastern regions of Ukraine and Crimea since 2014. Additionally, all Lufthansa Group airlines, including the mainline and subsidiaries Austrian and Swiss, are suspending flights to and from Kiev and Odessa. The move affects all departures from 21 to 28 February. Swiss and Lufthansa say they are constantly monitoring the situation and will decide on further flights at a later date. In a statement, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency has said it is sharing regular updates on the current Ukrainian situation with the members of the European Information Sharing and Cooperation Platform on Conflict Zones. It notes that “in 2015 already Ukraine had issued aeronautical publications introducing flight prohibitions in the eastern part of Ukraine and over Crimea, which are still in force. Therefore, parts of the airspace over the territories are not used by air carriers.” Despite the moves to pull back from the country, data shows that traffic levels have so far been maintained. Capacity as measured by departing passenger services shows no indication up to 20 February – the last day of data collection – of being impacted by the dispute. It should be noted that the data does count services to Crimea as part of Ukraine, despite the region being controlled and administered by Russia, and this does account for a large slice of activity. Although the impact of the tensions should be seen as carriers pull back from Ukraine, SAS and KLM represent relatively niche positions in the country, with Lufthansa Group being the country’s 10th-largest airline by number of flights, according to Cirium data collated from 1 August to 20 February. Meanwhile, several other carriers have signalled their commitment to Ukraine. Ryanair, which has long eyed Ukraine as a potential growth market and has a significant presence there, has stated its intention to maintain links with the country. Group chief executive Michael O’Leary commented on 16 February that the airline had a “duty and obligation to support the people of Ukraine”, RTE reported. “It is important not to panic,” he said. “People need to get home and people want to leave and fly abroad to the EU – airlines have to provide that service.” Wizz Air, which data shows is the fourth-largest airline serving the country, notes that it has “not made any changes to flight schedules currently”, but is monitoring the situation, and urges passengers travelling to the country to monitor communications from the company. The largest airlines serving the country are local carriers Ukraine International Airlines, SkyUp and Windrose Airlines, data shows. Several of the country’s airlines have said they are being forced to park their leased aircraft outside of Ukraine because of insurance companies’ concerns over the security situation.

Lufthansa has decided not to implement compulsory redundancies for pilots while the airline is seeking ways to reduce staff amid the pandemic. The German airline group says that passenger numbers during the first quarter have been about 50% lower than during the same period in 2020. Voluntary redundancies have been used to reduce mainline captain positions and will now be offered to first officers, the airline says. Lufthansa Cargo pilots aged 55 and over will be offered early retirement plans. Additionally, the airline says, it is in talks with social partners about part-time pilot work agreements to “alleviate existing personnel surplus”. Pilots at former low-cost division Germanwings – its operation was permanently suspended in 2020 – have been offered transfers to Eurowings. Some 80 former Germanwings pilots have been seconded to the mainline. Lufthansa notes that training of new pilots will restart under a new flight school structure later this year.