City Government of St. Petersburg announced on Telegram channel that Pulkovo International Airport will be temporarily closed for about an hour before resuming normal operations. The airspace above St. Petersburg is also open and all restrictions are lifted.
Earlier in the day, the city government of St. Petersburg confirmed that Pulkovo International Airport was temporarily suspended from accepting civilian flights, but did not give a reason.
Pulkovo International Airport. Photo: Sputnik
The Baza news site reported that Russia had mobilized jets and activated “Kovyor emergency plan”. The plan is to deal with the case of an illegal plane or UFO entering Russian airspace.
The Fontanka news portal says that the Russian Defense Ministry has informed the management of Pulkovo International Airport about an unidentified flying object discovered outside St. Petersburg, about 160-200 km away. As a rule, the airport must stop receiving flights in the event of such an incident.
According to a source of the RIA-Novosti news agency, the airspace around the city began to reopen shortly after noon on February 28. The Kommersant newspaper reported that the Rosaviatsia National Air Traffic Administration also announced restrictions around St. Petersburg has been lifted.
Data from the website Flightradar24 shows planes have begun to return to the airspace around the city.