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Airlines are diverting flights way from Ukraine as world leaders demanded an international probe into the shooting down of a Malaysian aircraft.
All 298 people on board, including nine from the UK, were killed in the second tragedy to hit Malaysia Airlines this year following the mystery disappearance of a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March.
US vice-president Joe Biden said the MAS Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to the Malaysian capital yesterday had apparently been “blown out of the sky”.
British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, KLM, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Alitalia, Turkish Airlines and Wizz Air are among carriers now avoiding the area.
Image credit: Flightradar24
The move came as pilots group the European Cockpit Association said the route flown by the lost MAS aircraft was the most common route for flights from Europe to South East Asia.
ECA called on European authorities to take immediate measures to secure all the flights overflying the region.
Some international airlines, including Qantas and Korea’s two major carriers, shifted the route taken by flights operating over Ukrainian air space months ago amid increasing tensions between Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels.
The US Federal Aviation Administration issued an order prohibiting US aircraft from flying over eastern Ukraine.
The Civil Aviation Authority said it had previously issued advice to UK airlines on operating in this area. Following the incident, Eurocontrol has issued advice to airlines to plan routes that avoid the area.
Ukraine accused pro-Moscow militants, aided by Russian military intelligence officers, of firing a long-range, Soviet-era SA-11 ground-to-air missile at the aircraft. Leaders of the rebel Donetsk People’s Republic denied any involvement and said a Ukrainian air force jet had brought down the intercontinental flight.
Australian prime minister Tony Abbott appeared to go further than other Western leaders in apportioning blame, demanding today that Moscow answer questions about the “Russian-backed rebels” that he said were behind the disaster, Reuters reported.
Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak said: “If it transpires that the plane was indeed shot down, we insist that the perpetrators must swiftly be brought to justice.”
Former Abta chairman John McEwan wrote on Facebook: “It’s quite disingenuous for Russia or the separatists in eastern Ukraine to claim that the Ukrainian government is responsible for the Malaysian Airlines downing.
“The fact is that Russia’s support for the separatists is creating the current situation in eastern Ukraine. We have to see whether the plane was brought down. If it was, then we know who is responsible.”
Shares in Malaysia Airlines fell by as much as 18% in trading this morning – and the company’s value has plunged by 43% over the past nine months.
Mohshin Aziz, an investment analyst at Maybank in Kuala Lumpur, told the BBC World Service the airline’s challenges are “insurmountable” and it probably will not survive beyond a year.
The report came as MAS issued a third statement into the crash of Flight MH17 over Ukraine. The airline said the Boeing 777’s last maintenance check was carried out last week (July 11).
“The aircraft had a clean bill of health.” MAS said. “All communication systems on the aircraft were functioning normally.” The wide-body twinjet had been in service for 17 years.