The Ministry of Transport and Communications appealed to the International Civil Aviation Organisation regarding the Belarusian airspace incident
In response to the incident when a Ryanair aircraft on an international route to Vilnius was forced to land in the capital of Belarus Minsk on Sunday, the Ministry of Transport and Communications formally applied to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The Ministry requested ICAO to initiate an investigation regarding the aviation incident in Belarus and to acknowledge Belarusian airspace as unsafe.
“Lithuania is convinced that the forced landing of the Ryanair aircraft and the known circumstances of this incident could be in contravention of the Chicago Convention and can be considered as alleged act of unlawful interference as it is described in the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation (Montreal Convention), which, among other issues, outlaws the seizure of aircraft or knowingly communicating false information in a way that endangers aircraft safety”, states the appeal signed by Minister of Transport and Communications Marius Skuodis.
The appeal also underlines that the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued an Information Note on the Belarusian Airspace in which it raised concerns regarding the risk to commercial aviation in the Belarusian airspace and, as a precautionary measure, recommended that European air carriers should exercise caution when operating flights within or over Minsk flight information region.
“Lithuania strongly believes that the above-mentioned events clearly demonstrate that the Belarusian airspace is not safe for air operations. Therefore, Lithuania calls on ICAO to initiate an investigation to clarify all the circumstances of this incident and is ready to provide all available information regarding the investigation”, the Minister’s appeal states.
Yesterday, the Council of the European Union also condemned Belarusian act of forced landing of the passenger plane as “threatening aviation security” and urged the Community operators to avoid Belarusian airspace. Further, EU leaders urged ICAO to investigate this “unprecedented and unacceptable incident” as soon as possible. The EU Council urged to take measures to ban Belarusian airlines flights in the EU airspace and to deny access to the EU airports to flights operated by such airlines.
Lithuanian Government has already adopted the decision to limit Belarusian air carriers’ flights in and out of Lithuanian airports.
Yesterday, responding to an unprecedented Belarusian attack on a civil aircraft, Lithuanian Government has acknowledged Belarus as unsafe for Lithuanian citizens and therefore banned any incoming or outgoing flights over its territory. This prohibition came into effect on Tuesday at 03:00 in the morning. It will affect up to 26 flights per day. Due to this incident the Ministry held a meeting with the National Civil Aviation Security Committee.
Last updated: 25-05-2021
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