OREANDA-NEWS. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has condemned the decision of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to ban airlines from the European Union from flying over Belarus after an emergency landing of a Ryanair plane in Minsk. This is stated in a statement on the IATA website.

«Aviation security should never be politicized. The IATA condemned the actions of the Belarusian leadership and called for an independent investigation. The ban on European aircraft using the airspace of Belarus... is also a politicization of aviation security. This is a reactionary and disappointing development», wrote on the IATA website.

IATA called on EASA to lift it's ban and allow airlines to independently assess the risks of flying over Belarus. On May 26, a few days after the incident with the Ryanair plane in Minsk, EASA advised European airlines to avoid the airspace of Belarus. On June 2, EASA replaced this recommendation with a complete ban on flights over Belarus.

The EU leaders decided to ban Belarusian airlines from flying to the European Union due to the forced landing of the Ryanair flight and recommended that EU air carriers refuse to fly over the territory of Belarus. This decision should come into force on June 5.

The Belarusian state-owned airline «Belavia» has suspended flights to 20 countries due to restrictions imposed by the European Union. Now the carrier has only nine destinations left. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has announced an investigation into the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk. The interim findings of this investigation will be presented on June 25.