A Saddened Travel World Adjusts to Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Image: A wintry view of Lviv, Ukraine, at night. (photo via iStock / Getty Images Plus / Liubov_Chuiko)
Image: A wintry view of Lviv, Ukraine, at night. (photo via iStock / Getty Images Plus / Liubov_Chuiko)
Rich Thomaselli
by Rich Thomaselli
Last updated: 9:35 AM ET, Sun February 27, 2022

With anger, frustration and heavy hearts, the travel world has reacted strongly to Russia's invasion of Ukraine this week and is adjusting accordingly to the impact it has caused.

Many cruise lines have already revised their itineraries and canceled scheduled stops in Russia and Ukraine.

But it's been airline travel that has been most affected and will continue to be greatly altered.

Delta Airlines has already suspended its codeshare agreement with Russian national carrier Aeroflot. The United Kingdom has banned its commercial airlines from Russian airspace and, as expected, Russia retaliated by banning British carriers.

Germany's national airline, Lufthansa, announced on Saturday that it would suspend flights to and from Russia for at least seven days. It will also avoid Russian airspace during that time.

"Flights that are in Russian airspace will leave it shortly," Lufthansa said in a statement according to CNBC. "Lufthansa Group continues to monitor the situation closely and is in close exchange with national and international authorities."

None of this is surprising, of course. Avoiding the airspace over a region under conflict is Aviation 101.

And this photo from the flight tracking service FlightRadar24 shows a stunning barren circle over Ukraine devoid of any air travel, and limited airplane activity over western Russia.

But the long-term repercussions remain to be seen.

The longer the war continues - or, even if the conflict is settled - the longer the tit-for-tat between Russia and the West could wreak havoc on airlines. If planes are forced to fly around Ukrainian and Russian airspace, you're talking a massive amount of territory to have to circle around on international flights, especially between Europe and Asia.

"Any diversions that aircraft have to make around the no-fly zone is going to add to fuel costs," Bruce Chan, a logistics analyst at Stifel, told CNBC.

Which, of course, will drive up airfares.

The Federal Aviation Administration has already told U.S.-based airlines to avoid "the entire country of Ukraine, the entire country of Belarus and a western portion of Russia," according to CNN.

"For aviation, safety is always the top priority," Willie Walsh, the director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) trade group, told CNN. "IATA is helping to facilitate the relevant and timely sharing of information with airlines from government and non-government sources to support airlines as they plan their operations around airspace closures in Ukraine and parts of Russia."


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Rich Thomaselli

Rich Thomaselli

Associate Writer

Editor Associate Writer true 9281 14744 Rich Thomaselli has written for TravelPulse since 2014 and has been a professional journalist for nearly 40 years. His work has appeared in USA Today, the New York Times and New York Yankees publications. He is an 11-time writ

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