Emirates (EK, Dubai International) has suspended its Kyiv Boryspil flights effective July 17, a full 14 days ahead of its previous announced termination date. The move comes days after the downing of a Malaysia Airlines (MH, Kuala Lumpur International) B777-200(ER), 9M-MRD (msn 28411), en-route from Amsterdam Schiphol to Kuala Lumpur International, in which all 298 on-board were killed. The incident occurred over the volatile eastern part of Ukraine, at present under the control of pro-Russian separatist rebels.
While the exact cause of the tragedy has yet to be determined, it is believed the aircraft was shot down with a Surface-to-Air missile.
In the wake of the disaster, various international airlines - Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith), British Airways (BA, London Heathrow), Cathay Pacific (CX, Hong Kong International), China Airlines (CI, Taipei Taoyuan), Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International), Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul Airport), Air France (AF, Paris CDG), Asiana Airlines (OZ, Seoul Incheon), Korean Air (KE, Seoul Incheon), and Air Berlin (1991) (Berlin Tegel) - have announced plans to re-route their Asian bound services away from Ukrainian airspace.
Lufthansa has echoed Emirates in calling for an international airline summit to discuss the industry's response to the MH17 disaster stating that international security protocols should be reviewed.
Aeroflot (SU, Moscow Sheremetyevo) and Transaero Airlines (Moscow Vnukovo) temporarily suspended their services to the south-eastern Ukrainian cities of Dnipro and Odesa last week though it appears Aeroflot has now moved to suspend its Dnepropetrovsk operations indefinitely.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has also issued a NOTAM prohibiting US flight operations over eastern Ukraine until further notice.
"The restricted area includes the entire Simferopol and Dnepropetrovsk flight information regions (FIRs). This action expands a prohibition of U.S. flight operations issued by the FAA in April, over the Crimean region of Ukraine and adjacent areas of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov," the FAA said.
