Qantas flies north as Ukraine airspace empties

The airline’s flights to London are giving Ukraine a wide berth as Russia’s invasion of the country intensifies.

The flight path of QF1 from Darwin to London. Picture: Flightradar24

Qantas is sending its flights to London from Darwin well north of Ukraine, with the Boeing 787s not coming within 450 nautical miles of the border with Russia, similar to the distance between Sydney and Brisbane.

The route has been operated by Qantas since it shifted its Perth-London flights to Darwin late last year, and a spokesman said they were closely monitoring conditions as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine intensified.

All airlines have been banned from flying over Ukraine and Belarus, as well as Russian airspace within 200 nautical miles of the border between Russia and Ukraine.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency extended the border buffer from 100 to 200 nautical miles on Friday, taking into account “the assessed risk posed by the threat of missile launches to and from Ukraine”.

The US has issued 3 NOTAMs effective immediately prohibiting US airlines from operating in Ukraine, Belarus, and in Russian airspace within 160 nautical miles of the border between Russia and Ukraine within the Moscow, Samara and Rostov FIRs. pic.twitter.com/0HbHSjKIWZ

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) February 24, 2022

The US has also issued three notices to airmen (NOTAMs) effectively prohibiting US airlines from operating in Ukraine, Belarus and in Russian airspace within 160 nautical miles of the Ukraine-Russia border.

Flight radar images show empty airspace over Ukraine as airlines opt to go north or south to avoid the war-torn country.

As war erupted, aviation safety agencies were quick to prohibit movement over the countries in question, in an effort to avoid another MH17 disaster.

On July 17, 2014, a Malaysia Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot out of the sky by a Russian missile as it flew over Ukraine.

Air traffic today at 16:00 UTC compared to same time last Thursday. pic.twitter.com/lG3lPXoFHq

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) February 24, 2022

All 298 people on board the Boeing 777 were killed including 40 Australians.

In that tragic event, airlines had been advised not to operate lower than 32,000 feet when flying over Ukraine. Flight MH17 was flying at 33,000 feet when it was struck by the Buk missile.

Investigators found Russia to be responsible but President Vladimir Putin has never accepted responsibility.

At the time, US airlines and Qantas had made the decision not to operate over Ukraine due to the conflict and Qantas has not flown over Ukraine since then.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority has now banned any Russian owned or operated flights from landing in the country, and suspended the foreign carrier permit held by Aeroflot.

Originally published as Qantas flies north as Ukraine airspace empties