Airspace can't be used as retaliatory tool, civilian flights not to be targetted
NEW DELHI: Airspace must never be weaponised in conflicts, and civilian aircraft should never become casualties—deliberate or accidental—of military operations, said Nick Careen, Senior Vice President of Operations & Security at the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Speaking at the IATA Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, Careen said that governments worldwide are working together to enhance coordination and establish clear global protocols to protect civil aviation in conflict zones.
'Governments must step up, enhance intelligence-sharing, and establish clearer global protocols to prevent such tragedies and safeguard civilian aviation,' Careen said.
Citing rising threats to flight safety, Careen said, 'There needs to be a better balance between connectivity and geopolitical issues that always puts national security and international law in the forefront. Instead, we see airspace used as a retaliatory tool.'
The fallout from global conflicts is already hitting the aviation sector hard. In 2023, two civilian aircraft were shot down in Kazakhstan and Sudan, claiming 38 lives. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war continues to disrupt European airspace, with up to 2,000 flights being rerouted or cancelled on an average summer day due to closed Ukrainian airspace and sanctions on Russia. That's about 6% of total daily network traffic, Careen noted. Another 1,500 flights are rerouted daily to avoid restricted airspace, causing logistical chaos and increased fuel consumption.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Today
29 minutes ago
- India Today
Six dead, 80 injured as Russia launches massive airstrikes across Ukraine
Russia launched an intense missile and drone barrage at the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in the early hours of Friday, killing at least six people, Ukrainian officials said, as powerful explosions reverberated across the attacks followed a warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin, conveyed via US President Donald Trump, that the Kremlin would hit back after Ukrainian drones destroyed several strategic bomber aircraft in attacks deep inside Volodymyr Zelenskyy said three emergency responders were killed in the missile and drone salvo against the capital. Two died in an attack on the northern city of Chernihiv and at least one more in the northwestern city of Lutsk."Those killed in Kyiv were rescue workers who arrived at the scene of an initial strike and, unfortunately, were killed in a repeat Russian strike," Zelenskyy said in his nightly video Minister Andrii Sybiha, writing on X, said Russia had "'responded' to its destroyed aircraft... by attacking civilians in Ukraine.... Multi-storey buildings hit. Energy infrastructure damaged."Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had carried out the strike on military and military-related targets in response to what it called Ukrainian "terrorist acts" against Russia."They gave Putin a reason to go in and bomb the hell out of them last night," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, when asked about how Ukraine's earlier drone strikes had affected the said 80 people nationwide had been injured in the attacks, which also struck several other towns and cities. He said residents could still be trapped under Chernihiv, the national emergency services said two bodies were recovered from the rubble of a wrecked industrial Lutsk, the body of a man was found in the ruins of an apartment block, while emergency crews kept searching for his wife. Thirty people were hurt in the city, where educational institutions and a government building were also forces also struck industrial facilities and infrastructure in the western city of Ternopil, leaving parts of it without power, Mayor Serhii Nadal regional administration said the attack had injured 10 people and asked residents to temporarily stay inside due to a high concentration of toxic substances in the air after a air force said Russia had used 407 drones, one of the largest numbers recorded in a single attack. It said 45 cruise and ballistic missiles were also HIT KYIV TRANSPORT SYSTEMKyiv's metro transport system was disrupted by a Russian strike that hit and damaged tracks between stations, the military administration said. The state rail company said it was also diverting some trains due to rail damage outside the witnesses reported a series of booming explosions powerful enough to rattle windows far from the impact Kyiv residents sought shelter in metro stations, or in underground car the capital's Solomianskyi district, a Russian drone slammed into the side of an apartment building, leaving a gaping hole and burn marks, a Reuters photographer at the scene concrete blocks from the building crushed cars parked below. Two police investigators were examining what appeared to be the drone's in the night, Reuters reporters heard the sound of Russian kamikaze drones buzzing in the sky, accompanied by the sounds of outgoing fire from Ukrainian anti-aircraft called for concerted pressure on Russia."If someone is not applying pressure and is giving the war more time to take lives – that is complicity and accountability. We must act decisively," he wrote on Ukrainian military said it had launched a pre-emptive strike overnight on the Engels and Dyagilevo airfields in the Russian regions of Saratov and Ryazan, in addition to striking at least three fuel one of the most audacious attacks of the three-year-old war between Ukraine and Russia, Ukrainian spies last weekend destroyed some of Russia's strategic bomber aircraft on the ground using quadrocopter drones hidden in wooden a phone conversation with Putin on Wednesday, Trump said the Kremlin was planning an unspecified response to the Ukrainian attack on the Russian air InMust Watch
Time of India
34 minutes ago
- Time of India
President Trump on imposing ‘stiff' sanctions against Russia, says 'I'll use it if it's necessary…'
US President Donald Trump said on Friday (June 6) that he hadn't decided whether to deploy sanctions against Russia that are being considered by the Senate. The Senate is weighing a bill that would impose stiff sanctions on Russia - and secondary sanctions on countries that trade with Russia - over its war in Ukraine. "I haven't decided to use it," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. "I'll use it if it's necessary."Asked about Russia's most recent attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in the early hours of Friday that killed at least six people, Trump said Ukraine "gave Putin a reason to go and bomb the hell out of them." The attacks followed a warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin, conveyed via Trump, that the Kremlin would hit back after Ukrainian drones destroyed several strategic bomber aircraft in attacks deep inside Russia. Show more Show less
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Deadly Russian bombardment of Ukraine further dampens hopes for peace
Russia struck Ukraine with a thunderous aerial bombardment overnight, further dampening hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal anytime soon, days after Kyiv embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprising drone attack on military airfields deep inside Russia. The barrage was one of the fiercest of the three-year war, lasting several hours, striking six Ukrainian territories, and killing at least six people and injuring about 80 others, Ukrainian officials said Friday. Among the dead were three emergency responders in Kyiv, one person in Lutsk and two people in Chernihiv. The attack came after U.S. President Donald Trump said his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, told him Moscow would respond to Ukraine's attack Sunday on Russian military airfields. It was also hours after Mr. Trump said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia 'fight for a while' before pulling them apart and pursuing peace. Trump's comments were a remarkable detour from his often-stated appeals to stop the war and signaled he may be giving up on recent peace efforts. Ukrainian cities have come under regular bombardment since Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022. The attacks have killed more than 12,000 civilians, according to the United Nations. 'Russia doesn`t change its stripes,' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Also Read | Zelenskyy slams Russia after three generations killed in drone strike The war has continued unabated even as a U.S.-led diplomatic push for a settlement has brought two rounds of direct peace talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine. The negotiations delivered no significant breakthroughs, however, and the sides remain far apart on their terms for an end to the fighting. Ukraine has offered an unconditional 30-day ceasefire and a meeting between Mr. Zelenskyy and Russian leader Vladimir Putin to break the deadlock. But the Kremlin has effectively rejected a truce and hasn't budged from its demands. 'The Kremlin continues efforts to falsely portray Russia as willing to engage in good-faith negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, despite Russia's repeated refusal to offer any concessions,' the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said late Thursday. Further peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are expected in coming weeks, as is another exchange of prisoners of war. The attack involved 407 Russian drones and 44 ballistic and cruise missiles, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said. Ukrainian forces said they shot down about 30 of the cruise missiles and up to 200 of the drones. The Kyiv emergency workers were killed while responding to the strikes. 'They were working under fire to help people,' the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Russia's Defense Ministry said it aimed at Ukrainian military targets with 'long-range precision weapons' and successfully struck arms depots, drone factories and repair facilities, among other targets. But fitting a pattern for Russian attacks throughout the war, Friday's bombardment also struck apartment buildings and other non-military targets, Associated Press reporters observed. In Kyiv, explosions were heard for hours as falling drone debris sparked fires across several districts, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Administration. He urged people to seek shelter. Vitalina Vasylchenko, a 14-year-old Kyiv resident, sheltered in a parking garage with her 6-year-old sister and their mother after an explosion blew one of their windows off its hinges. 'I heard a buzzing sound, then my dad ran to me and covered me with his hand," she said. "Then there was a very loud explosion. My whole life flashed before my eyes — I already thought that was it. I started having a panic attack. ... I'm shocked that I'm alive.' In Kyiv's Solomyanskyi district, a fire broke out on the 11th floor of a 16-story apartment building. Emergency services evacuated three people from the burning unit. The attack caused a blackout in some areas, and more than 2,000 households on Kyiv's eastern bank were without power, city officials said. Elsewhere, 10 people were injured by an aerial attack on the western city of Ternopil, regional governor Viacheslav Nehoda said. The strike damaged industrial and infrastructure facilities, left parts of the city without electricity, and disrupted water supplies. Russia also targeted the western Lviv and Khmelnytskyi regions, the northern Chernihiv region, and the central Poltava region, where at least three people were injured. In Russia, air defenses shot down 10 Ukrainian drones heading toward the capital early Friday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. As a precaution, flights at Moscow airports were temporarily suspended overnight Thursday into Friday and then again late Friday afternoon. Ukrainian drones also targeted three other regions of Russia, authorities said, damaging apartment buildings and industrial plants. Three people were injured, officials said. Russia's Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 174 Ukrainian drones over 13 regions early Friday. It added that three Ukrainian Neptune missiles were also shot down over the Black Sea. Ukraine struck airfields and other military targets in Russia, such as fuel storage tanks and transport hubs, the Ukrainian General Staff said. Also, a locomotive derailed early Friday in the Belgorod region after the track was blown up, Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said. Russia has recently accused Ukraine of sabotaging the rail network.
