Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air managed to fly one of its aircraft out of Ukraine, even though the country’s airspace is currently closed.
Flight tracking services show that the Airbus A320, registered as HA-LWS, took off from Lviv (LWO) on a flight to Katowice (KTW), Poland, on the afternoon of September 13, 2022.
The aircraft had been stranded in LWO since February 24, 2022, after the country’s airspace was closed due to the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Image: Flightradar24.com
Wizz Air was one of several airlines to continue flying to Ukraine after initial warnings of the impending invasion in January and February 2022.
In the morning of February 24, as Russian missiles began to strike Ukrainian airports and the country issued Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) prohibiting the entry of its airspace, three Wizz Air aircraft remained parked at Kyiv Boryspil International Airport (KBP), with another parked at LWO.
Many other airlines and air forces also have aircraft stuck on the ground in Ukraine, with negotiations to fly them out of the country currently stalled.
As no special decrees or exceptions have been issued to Wizz Air by Ukrainian authorities, circumstances surrounding the flight remain unclear.
The event was first reported by AirLive.net.
UPDATE 09-14-2022, 13:40 (UTC +3): Responding to AeroTime’s request for comment, Wizz Air said in an official statement:
“Wizz Air confirms that, following an in-depth risk assessment and thorough preparation, its one aircraft based in Lviv departed from Danylo Halytskyi International Airport and successfully landed in Katowice on 13 Sep 2022.”
