How Belarus 'hijacking' has redrawn Europe's air map

The forcible diversion of a flight from Greece to Lithuania to Belarus has not only sparked a diplomatic incident; it's also made big changes for flying in Europe, and, possibly, beyond.

(CNN) — In the week since Ryanair flight FR4978 from Athens to Vilnius was forcibly diverted to Minsk, travel in Europe already looks very different. Three days after the incident -- in which Belarusian fighter jets escorted the airplane to land in the capital citing security concerns, before arresting opposition activist Roman Protasevich and his Russian companion Sofia Sapega -- European airlines were formally stopped from flying over Belarusian airspace. The directive, issued Wednesday by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) under the form of a Safety Information Bulletin (SIB), called on all airlines "with their principle place of business in one of the EASA member states" to avoid Belarusian airspace. They advised that all other airlines should do the same, wherever they are based.