Portugal-Ukraine flight forced to land in Moldova

A flight from Madeira, Portugal, to Kyiv was
barred from entering Ukraine on Sunday because of the crisis with Russia and
forced to land in Moldova, its operator said.

Ukraine’s low-cost carrier SkyUp said the flight’s permission to cross
into Ukraine was removed at the last minute by the plane’s Irish leasing
company.

“Despite the airline’s best efforts and the Ukrainian government’s
readiness to speak to the leasing company, the plane’s owner categorically
denied (permission to enter Ukraine) once the plane was already on its way,”
SkyUp said a statement.

SkyUp said it was trying to arrange a transfer for the flight’s 175
passengers from the Moldovan capital Chisinau to Kyiv.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry said it was helping arrange buses for the
diverted passengers.

The incident occurred a day after Dutch carrier KLM suspended flights into
Ukraine until further notice due to mounting fears that Russia was preparing
an invasion of the former Soviet state.

A growing group of European and other nations are urging their citizens to
leave Ukraine.

The US embassy in Kyiv on Saturday ordered the evacuation of non-emergency
staff.

Industry analysts believe other international airlines may also ban
flights into Ukraine soon because of the growing cost to travel insurers.

The international travel industry is still jittery following the crash of
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was shot down near a conflict zone in
eastern Ukraine in July 2014, killing all 298 people on board.

AFP