Latvia prolongs airspace restrictions near Russian and Belarusian borders

Latvian authorities have once again extended for a week the ban on evening and nighttime flights in airspace along the borders with Russia and Belarus, a source in the Baltic republic’s air traffic control service told TASS.

The previous restriction had been in effect until the end of Sunday, December 14. “The restrictions have been extended again, and the ban on flights in border airspace with Russia and Belarus at altitudes of up to 6 kilometres will remain in force until the end of December 21,” the source said. He recalled that such restrictions were first introduced by Latvian authorities in September and have since been repeatedly extended.

According to air traffic control data, as in the current week, flights along the borders with Russia and Belarus are prohibited from 17:00 to 05:00 GMT at flight levels up to 6 kilometres. “Information on the restrictions and their extension has been communicated to all users of the country’s airspace,” the source noted.

In addition to the Latvian-Russian and Latvian-Belarusian borders, a similar ban also applies to flights along the borders with Estonia and Lithuania. In all cases, exceptions may be made for flights authorised by the military authorities.

In neighbouring Estonia, authorities also introduced flight restrictions in September along the borders with Russia and Latvia at altitudes of up to 1 kilometre. In particular, all aircraft, including unmanned aerial vehicles, are prohibited from operating in border areas without special permission from the police or border service.

As previously explained to TASS by the Tallinn Flight Information Region air traffic control service, this restriction remains in effect until the morning of Thursday, December 18.

By Tamilla Hasanova