EU airspace closed: Aeroflot’s Airbus A321 stuck in Geneva
After the northern route was no longer possible, an Aeroflot Airbus A321 wanted to fly south from Geneva back to Russia. But Italy put a spoke in his wheel.
Actually, it had been clear since Saturday evening: The EU will exclude Russian airlines and planes from its airspace. In the course of Sunday (February 27), one country after the next in Europe implemented the measure. Confirmation came from Brussels on Sunday evening: There is a Union-wide ban on Russian aircraft.
Switzerland, which has not yet issued any sanctions such as freezing Russian funds, did not go along with it for the time being. Nevertheless, an Aeroflot plane is now stuck in the country. The Airbus A321 with the registration number VP-BOE flew from Moscow to Geneva in the morning. From there he should have started his return flight with flight number SU2385 at around 4 p.m.
Nothing came of the flight over the Caucasus
But at this point in time, important airspaces – such as the German one – were already closed. The task now is to find a way for Aeroflot’s A321 to get back home from Geneva. Apparently, a flight in a northerly direction was initially planned. But then that too became impossible.
then the crew planned to fly south via France, Italy, Greece and Turkey, among others. But not to Moscow, but to Mineralnye Vody, an airport in the Caucasus. The jet should have refueled there and then continued on to Moscow.
Back to parking position
But just as the Airbus A321 was about to taxi for takeoff, the news came: Italy’s airspace is no longer open to Russian jets. Instead of taking off, the plane also rolled back to a parking position, as can be seen on flight tracking services. How things will continue with Aeroflot’s Airbus A321 is – as of now – uncertain.