Ukraine invasion: UK flights banned from Russia in retaliation after British sanctions slapped on Aeroflot
UK flights to and over Russia have been banned by the country's civil
aviation authority in retaliation for a British ban on Aeroflot in UK
airports and airspace.
Rosaviatsiya said that all flights by UK carriers to Russia as well as transit flights are banned from Friday.
It is acting, it said, in response to the "unfriendly decisions" by the
British authorities who banned the Russian flag carrier Aeroflot as part
of sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
British Airways has said it is now avoiding Russian airspace for overflights and cancelled its flight to Moscow on Friday.
Luis Gallego, CEO of British Airways owner, IAG, said: "Following the UK
government decision to ban Aeroflot from landing in the UK, we have
taken the decision not use Russian airspace for overflights.
"We are avoiding Russian airspace for the time being. The impact for
us is not huge because right now we are only flying to a small number of
destinations in Asia and we can reroute our flights."
On
Thursday, Boris Johnson announced what he called the "largest set of
sanctions ever imposed anywhere by the UK government" on Russia.
Five more Russian oligarchs known to be close to the Kremlin have been targeted, including Russian President Vladimir Putin's former son-in-law.
In
all, the prime minister said, more than 100 businesses and individuals
will be restricted, including "all the major manufacturers that support
Putin's war machine".
