Following President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, President Joe Biden said during Tuesday night's State of the Union address that the US will prohibit Russian aircraft from US airspace, joining a growing list of countries that have closed their skies to Russia.
"Tonight, I'm announcing that we'll join our partners in cutting off American airspace to all Russian planes," Biden stated.
When asked if the Biden administration had considered this step in recent days, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the amount of US planes flying over Russia to Asia and other areas of the world played a factor in the decision.
The Putin government is anticipated to respond by prohibiting American planes from flying over Russian airspace. As planes are redirected around prohibited airspace, this might result in lengthier trips, but aviation industry experts believe Russians would suffer the brunt of the impact.
The airline that will be heavily affected is Russia's Aeroflot, which has been flying into Miami, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, D.C., as well as travelling to Caribbean locations over US and Canadian territory. These flights to and from the United States are now prohibited, and Aeroflot will be forced to reroute planes to popular holiday spots.
No US airlines now fly into any Russian cities, and those that did were already rerouting to Asia over Russia's huge airspace out of an abundance of caution. This increases time and consumes a lot more gasoline, resulting in higher prices. As a result, United Airlines has temporarily halted flights between New Delhi and Mumbai, India, over Russia.
