newstodate.aero
AUG 26, 2003 (newstodate): Civil aviation hopes for a reopening by this summer of the Kosovo airspace for civil aviation overflights have faded, and no immediate relief is in sight.
Since the war in the region, the airspace has been closed for overflights, while the ban on civil aviation movements to and from Serbia-Montenegro has long been lifted.
The Kosovo area, now managed by Icelandic authorities on behalf of NATO, is crucial to commercial air traffic on routes between western Europe and Eastern destinations.
In the lack of rights to operate through this airspace, airlines are forced to fly longer routes to the north or to the south of the Kosovo airspace, entailing significant cost and weight penalties.
Since the war in the region, the airspace has been closed for overflights, while the ban on civil aviation movements to and from Serbia-Montenegro has long been lifted.
The Kosovo area, now managed by Icelandic authorities on behalf of NATO, is crucial to commercial air traffic on routes between western Europe and Eastern destinations.
In the lack of rights to operate through this airspace, airlines are forced to fly longer routes to the north or to the south of the Kosovo airspace, entailing significant cost and weight penalties.