The residents of Russia are facing issues for entering Europe because of the extremely long flights, and they are seeking other ways to avoid more complicated situations.
As per the sources, it has been revealed that the border crossing point nearby Kirkenes has been reporting high numbers of the individuals who wish to reach Europe or return back to their nation.
The European Union its airspace for Russian aircraft at the beginning of March because of ongoing Russia’s full-scale military operation in Ukraine. Since the airspace has been closed, the maximum number of airlines have cancelled their flights.
Moreover, the people that have continued to operate following different routes have caused the flight time to get extended by over 13 hours.
The travellers from Moscow who have previously been able to reach Oslo for about two and a half hours now face extensions as the aircraft of Russia can currently only follow the route through Istanbul or Dubai.
A shuttle driver has mentioned that the route through Kirkenes is currently one of the most popular for those who, in normal conditions, would take a flight from Moscow to Oslo or vice versa.
Along with this, the driver mentioned in the statement, “Those who would normally fly Oslo-Moscow come here to Kirkenes, then we drive them across the border to Murmansk, and then they fly domestic flights to Moscow. further from there.”
It has been shown that the people that are entering Europe are mainly doing so for business purposes or visiting their relatives.
Furthermore, the Norwegian authorities have allowed entry to all the citizens of Russia who have to hold the needed documents, including a valid passport, a visa, or any other type of document that can be utilized to cross the border.
On the other hand, the European Union has already permitted the fifth package of restrictive measures against Russia.