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UAE flights to Kiev remain suspended after MH17 downing

Emirates, Etihad, Air Arabia suspend flights over Ukrainian airspace due to the safety concerns raised after the incident.

Flights to Ukraine’s airspace continued to be suspended on Saturday, affecting travel plans of hundreds of passengers here. The UAE-based airlines suspended their flights towards Kiev to protect their passengers after Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 bound for Kuala Lumpur from the Netherlands was shot down on Thursday, killing 298 passengers and crew.

Emirates Airlines, which suspended its flights to Kiev and ordered EK171 Dubai-Kiev flight on July 17 to return to Dubai due to the safety concerns raised after the incident, on Saturday said it will continue to monitor the situation.

“Our flights to Kiev are suspended with immediate effect, till further notice. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. The safety of our customers and crew is paramount, and we will continue to monitor the situation carefully,” an Emirates spokesman said in an official statement.

The spokesman said Emirates flights to and from the USA and other European destinations fly a different route and are “outside the zone” where the incident involving MH17 occurred. “This also applies to our previous Dubai-Kiev flights. Effective 3 April 2014, in line with the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation ) recommendations, we suspended operations over the Crimean Peninsula until further notice.”

Etihad Airlines confirmed Saturday that it has now suspended all flights over Ukrainian airspace until further notice.

An Air Arabia spokesperson also confirmed that its three weekly flights to Kiev were suspended with immediate effect and until further notice due to safety concerns. “Customers booked on flights to Kiev can contact Air Arabia’s 24/7 call center for further information.”

Malaysia Airlines MH 17 was shot down over Ukraine’s rebel-controlled areas on Thursday. The US said its satellite images showed that a Russian ground-to-air missile brought down the aircraft.

lily@khaleejtimes.com