The International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) and the European Cockpit Association (ECA) expressed concern on Monday 24 May, following the lead of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), about the forced landing of the Ryanair flight in Minsk, an act described as “unlawful interference, bearing all the hallmarks of a state-sponsored hijacking”.
In addition to the political aspect of this event, the associations believe that this operation risks setting a precedent that will upset assumptions about the response to in-flight bomb threats and interceptions.
“Without trust and reliable information from States and air navigation service providers, the management of both types of events becomes much riskier”, the organisations say.
For their part, several airlines including Air France, KLM, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Finnair and AirBaltic announced on Tuesday 25 May that they were suspending flights over Belarus in accordance with a European Union recommendation (see EUROPE 12725/1). The day before, the EU adopted new sanctions against the regime of Alexander Lukashenko.
Nearly 2,000 commercial aircraft use Belarusian airspace every week. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)