KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has taken the precautionary decision to suspend its flights to Ukraine and avoid the airspace until further notice.
This decision affects its twice-daily route between Amsterdam and Ukrainian capital Kiev. On Saturday evening, the airline said it “follows the adjusted travel advice to code red and an extensive safety analysis“.
The news come amid security warnings that Russia’s military could attack the Eastern European country ‘at any time’. Citizens were warned by the Dutch foreign ministry to not travel to Ukraine and leave the country as soon as possible. KLM is now the first European airline to suspend its flights for this reason.
In 2014, a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on flight MH17 was shot down over Eastern Ukraine by Russian separatists, killing 298 people. Since then, the ongoing conflict has been widely known as posing a risk not just to Ukraine but also to civil aviation.
“KLM has not been flying over the eastern regions of Ukraine and Crimea since 2014. There are now no more KLM flights through Ukrainian airspace until further notice.“, the Dutch flag-carrier states.
Jakob Wert is an aviation journalist from Germany. He built up the website IFN.news and is the Editor-In-Chief of International Flight Network.
