The Ukrainian authorities are trying their best to avoid the closure of airports in the east of the country, which European airlines are strongly advised not to fly. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) published in September a bulletin for air carriers, which stressed that the east of Ukraine is not the safest place for flights.

Now the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine is trying to persuade EASA to give up the recommendation to airlines not to fly to the east of the country. Minister of Infrastructure Volodymyr Omelyan called the bulletin "not true".

While there is no complete ban on flights, but if it appears, it will be the strongest blow to the airports "Dnepr", "Zaporozhye" and "Kharkov".

Director of the consulting company Friendly Avia Support Alexander Lanetsky explained to the newspaper. Ru "that the reasons for the appearance of EASA recommendations can be both claims to the work of the ground services of Ukrainian airports, and a possible military threat. Although so far, Western airlines have not suspended flights over those areas where there are no military operations.

Now, to the east of Ukraine, very few foreign air carriers fly, and a decrease in the already modest number of foreign flights will inflict serious economic blow at local airports.

Last week the Kharkov City Council sent an appeal to the Prime Minister of Ukraine Vladimir Groisman with a request to prevent the city from being left without an airport. As one of the deputies said, "This appeal is, in fact, a cry of the soul, but after fist fights, as you know, they do not wave".

Kharkiv Airport, built according to the latest technology for Euro 2012, is idle in comparison with the planned capacity. If you make it operate only in the mode of local transportation, it will leave 1500 people out of work - border guards, customs officers and other employees who serve international flights.

Meanwhile, the reasons for the ban on flights can be not only and not so much economic (European carriers prefer countries where the purchasing power of the population is several times higher than in Ukraine).

The former head of the State Aviation Service of Ukraine Denis Antoniuk does not exclude the possibility that EASA, when making a decision, relied on intelligence data. And in this case ignoring their warnings means risking the lives of thousands of people.