KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th February, 2022) The lessor banned an aircraft of Ukrainian airlines SkyUp from entering the Ukrainian airspace, ordering it to land in neighboring Moldova right in the midst of a flight from Portugal to Ukraine, the carrier said on Sunday.
"According to the requirements of the aircraft owner, the SkyUp aircraft UR-SQO, flying from Funchal (Madeira, Portugal) to Borispyil (Ukraine) with flight number PQ0902, was forced to land in Chisinau (Republic of Moldova)," the statement read, adding that "On February 12, 2022, the lessor, a resident of Ireland, informed the airline of an immediate ban on the entry of UR-SQO aircraft into Ukrainian airspace. Despite all the efforts of the airline and the willingness of government agencies of Ukraine to contact the lessor, the owner of the aircraft flatly refused just at a time when the aircraft was already flying to Kyiv."
SkyUp agreed with the Chisinau airport, the closest one to Kiev's Borispyil airport, about the landing of the plane, and organized transfer of the passengers to the Ukrainian capital. They all were provided with food, SkyUp said.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said shortly later that four buses carrying the passengers of the flight were on the way to Kiev.
"Thanks to the well-coordinated work of the consuls, 4 buses with passengers of the SkyUp flight, which made an emergency landing in Chisinau, departed to Ukraine. The foreign ministry is ready to provide maximum assistance to Ukrainian air carriers in solving issues related to the flight operation," Nikolenko wrote on Twitter.
On Saturday, Ukrainian news portal Strana.ua reported, citing an aviation source, that a group of the largest international airlines are going to announce on Monday that flights over Ukraine will no longer be insured. However, the head of the Insurance Association of Ukraine, Vyacheslav Chernyakhovsky, told the news outlet that he is unaware of this decision.
