Russia has restricted access to its airspace to all aircraft “owned, leased, or operated by any person connected with Britain or registered in Britain,” Russia’s air traffic regulators announced on Friday.
The restriction came into force at 11am Moscow time (8am GMT) and includes transit flights through Russian airspace, Rosaviatsia said. The ban was imposed in response to similar “hostile decisions” by the British leadership, the regulator said.
Britain on Thursday banned Russian flag carrier Aeroflot from flying through its airspace. It was part of a package of sanctions imposed to punish Russia for its military attack on Ukraine earlier in the day.
Rosaviatsia said it sought to conduct consultations with Britain about the move, but the request was denied, leading to Russia’s decision to reciprocate.
British Airways owner IAG said on Friday it was avoiding Russian airspace and overflights “for the time being,” Reuters reported. CEO Luis Gallego said that the impact was “not huge because right now we are only flying to a small number of destinations in Asia and we can reroute our flights.”
This move will devastate UK civilian aviation, considering they flew over Russia for most of their international flights. Someone in London is not a fan of chess it appears.
