Due to the conflict with Russia, an aircraft from Madeira, Portugal, to Kyiv was denied entry into Ukraine on Sunday and forced to land in Moldova, according to its operator.
The plane’s Irish leasing company removed the flight’s license to travel into Ukraine at the last minute, according to Ukraine’s low-cost carrier SkyUp.
“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 attempting to arrange for the flight’s 175 passengers to be transferred from Moldova’s capital, Chisinau, to Kyiv.
The Ukrainian foreign ministry stated it was assisting in the arrangement of buses for the people who had been rerouted.
The incident occurred a day after KLM, a Dutch airline, halted flights into Ukraine until further notice, citing growing concerns that Russia was planning an invasion of the former Soviet republic.
A increasing number of European countries and other countries are asking their citizens to flee Ukraine.
Non-emergency personnel were forced to leave the US embassy in Kyiv on Saturday.
Other international airlines, according to industry analysts, may soon restrict flights to Ukraine due to rising costs for travel insurers.
After Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down near a conflict zone in eastern Ukraine in July 2014, killing all 298 persons on board, the international travel sector is understandably nervous.
