Vietnamese air carriers should avoid routes being affected by the ongoing military tension between Russia and Ukraine and choose alternative itineraries if necessary, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) advised on Friday.

The CAAV sent the recommendation to Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet, Bamboo Airways and Pacific Airlines after receiving a notice from the European and North Atlantic Office of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on Thursday about the airspace closures in Moldova, Ukraine and Russia.

Specifically, Moldova has closed its airspace while Ukraine’s aviation authorities have announced its closure of the airspaces in the flight information regions (FIRs) of Dnipro, Simferopol, Lviv, Odesa and Kyiv.

The aviation authorities of the Russian Federation also announced the closure of part of the airspace in the Rostov FIR and some other airspaces.

The ICAO said it will continue coordinating with authorities concerned to update the latest related developments, especially those affecting flight safety.

Aviation authorities of Russian and Ukraine have issued their Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) notifying the closure of some airports, airspaces and flight legs, the Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation (VATM) reported.

To ensure absolute safety for flight operations to, from and over the territories of Russia, Ukraine, and Moldova, the CAAV requests Vietnamese domestic carriers not to choose airports near affected areas as their standby ones.  

All local airlines must keep them updated with relevant developments from NOTAMs to avoid air routes, airspaces, and airports affected by the ongoing military confrontation between Russia and Ukraine, the CAAV said.

Since the beginning of the dispute between Russia and Ukraine, Vietnam’s aviation firms have excluded Ukraine and Belarus from their plans for flights to Russian and western European countries, so they have not been affected by the recent airspace closure by Ukraine, according to deputy director of CAAV Dinh Viet Son.

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