While considered a military neutral country<\/strong>, they also broke away from the Soviet Union in 1991, and have had ongoing trouble in the\u00a0Transnistria region.<\/strong> This is a breakaway republic in eastern Moldova, bordering Ukraine, with its main city Tiraspol.<\/p>\n This region is of interest to Russia because of its access down to the Black Sea, the close ties any in the area retain with Russia, and because of what it means for Moldova’s EU entry bid – having full control of borders is a pre-requisite<\/strong> for this. All this means concerns for Moldova that Russia might take steps towards them<\/strong>, or at least the Transnistria region in a similar way as they have Ukraine.<\/p>\n Moldova<\/strong> initially closed all their\u00a0airspace<\/strong>, but later reopened a section on their western border with LRBB\/Bucharest FIR<\/strong> in order to enable flights to LUKK\/Chisinau airport.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n However, several countries have active warnings for Moldovan airspace.<\/strong> The primary risk is an unintended targeting of civil aircraft<\/strong> by military near the Moldova-Ukraine border, including misidentification (as with MAS17, UIA752).<\/p>\n A full post on the airspace situation<\/a> from the Russia Ukraine conflict is available here.<\/p>\n You can also read the main warnings for Moldova on Safeairspace<\/a>. As a brief overview of the big ones –<\/p>\n There has been a spate of bomb threats<\/strong> made at LUKK\/Chisinau airport, the latest occurring on July 30 and another August 2. No explosives have been discovered,<\/strong> but the threats are treated as real and have resulted in evacuations each time, which has resulted in a fair amount of disruption. Up to 100 institutions and buildings have apparently been targeted with fake bomb threats over the summer so far.<\/p>\n LUKK\/Chisinau Airport:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n There are special procedures<\/strong> in place for operating into LUKK\/Chisinau, and new SIDs and STARs<\/strong> have been published. However, only some of these are available.<\/p>\n Special care is recommended if arriving on runways 26\/27 or departing 08\/09.<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/MOLDOVA-map-1024x696.png\")
<\/strong><\/p>\nWhat about their involvement in the Russia Ukraine conflict?<\/h4>\n
The current conflict impact<\/h4>\n
\n
Why are we talking about Moldova now?<\/h4>\n
What is the impact on international flight operations though?<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Screenshot-2022-08-01-at-17.05.55.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/MOLDOVA-map-2-1024x696.png\")
<\/p>\n