Following a restriction on flights to the United Kingdom, Russian airline Aeroflot has decided to halt all flights to Europe beginning Monday.
Following the decision by numerous nations to restrict their airspace in protest of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the airline has decided to suspend all flights until further notice.
Aeroflot was grounded by the UK Civil Aviation Authority earlier this month until further notice. "This means that Aeroflot will be unable to conduct flights to or from the United Kingdom until further notice," a representative for the UK Civil Aviation Authority stated.
On Sunday, European countries and Canada took extraordinary steps to close their airspace to Russian planes in an effort to put pressure on President Vladimir Putin to cease his invasion of Ukraine, the worst attack on a European state since World War II.
According to Josep Borrell, the European Union's foreign policy leader, the EU has agreed to limit its airspace to Russian flights.
"We are closing EU airspace to Russian-owned, Russian-registered, or Russian-controlled aircraft," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Germany, Spain, and France have joined the United Kingdom, the Nordic countries, and the Baltic states in placing prohibitions on Russian use of their airspace.
Experts predict that without access to Russia's airspace, airlines will be forced to shift flights south, avoiding conflict zones in the Middle East.
According to US-based expert Robert Mann of R.W. Mann & Company, Inc., a reciprocal airspace restriction between Russia and the United States would result in lengthier flight durations for US carriers and crew changes on East Coast flights to Asia.
Certain flights may become prohibitively expensive for US carriers to operate. "It would just add a lot of expenditure," he added.
