Ryanair

Irish low-cost airline Ryanair and the company that controls Manchester, London Stansted, and East Midlands airports have announced that they will take legal action against the government of Boris Johnson, demanding a change in the color rating system of airline destinations.

Echoing the forced landing of a Ryanair flight travelling between two EU member states and the arrest of political activist Roman Protasevich in Belarus, the European Parliament has called for further sanctions on the hardline regime in Minsk.

A top American diplomat told Congress on Wednesday that the Biden administration plans to impose additional sanctions on the authoritarian regime in Belarus — a significant step as lawmakers agitate for tougher punishments against a top ally of Vladimir Putin.

"The Bulgarian authorities do not require from Bulgarian citizens and residents including family members to present any proofs related to Covid-19 vaccination or negative tests when entering Bulgaria", the Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to London Marin Raykov wrote in a letter to Ryanair.

Detours taken by airlines to avoid entering Belarusian airspace following the forced landing of a Ryanair jet are responsible for around an extra 250,000 kg of CO2 emissions per day, air traffic management estimates show.

On average, EU and UK carriers must fly 40 nautical miles more to adhere to EU sanctions against Belarus, with most re-routing through the Baltic states.

Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on Friday in a critical display of Moscow's support for Lukashenko's regime, a day after the UN civil aviation agency announced it would investigate Sunday's diversion of a Ryanair plane and the arrest of a journalist on board.

During a discussion on unresolved conflicts in the Eastern Partnership at an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers (a.k.a. Gymnich meeting) held in Lisbon, Bulgarian caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs Svetlan Stoev said, quoted by his Ministry, that stability and security in the area of the Eastern Partnership are priorities for the Bulgarian government.

Turkey's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines maintained its leadership in Europe with 729 daily flights on Wednesday, the European Organization for Air Navigation Safety (Eurocontrol) said on May 27.

According to a flight traffic report prepared by Eurocontrol, Turkish Airlines was followed by Air France, Lufthansa and Ryanair with 467, 386 and 368 flights, respectively.

The UN civil aviation agency will hold an urgent meeting Thursday (27 May) to discuss Belarus after Western powers on the UN Security Council called for the body to investigate Minsk's diversion of a European flight and arrest of a dissident.

Low-cost airline Ryanair will resume its flights to/from Plovdiv Airport from/to London Stansted on June 4. They will be performed twice a week - on Mondays and Fridays, respectively from 9:20 pm and 12:25 pm Bulgarian time, Plovdiv Airport reported on their website.