After the UK banned Aeroflot flights, the reciprocal came. Only this time Russia has banned all British airlines. British airlines have been banned from landing at Russian airports and crossing Russian airspace, Russia's civil aviation regulator said.
Russia said the move was a response to "unfavorable decisions by the UK aviation authorities".
On Thursday, the United Kingdom banned Russia's national airline Aeroflot from landing in the United Kingdom. The measure was part of sanctions imposed on Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. UK Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace told ITV: "I think this is their retaliation because yesterday I banned Aeroflot from using and landing in the UK. This is their unpleasant answer".
British Airways said in a statement to customers about the canceled services and that it will offer full refunds. "We apologize for the inconvenience, but this is a matter beyond our control," the airline said.
Following Russia's announcement, Virgin Atlantic also said that flight routes had been adjusted for some of its services between the United Kingdom, Pakistan and India. The flight time on these routes will be extended by between 15 minutes and one hour.
Virgin Atlantic apologized for the delays, adding: "The safety and security of our customers and people always comes first, and we are monitoring the situation in Ukraine and Russia very closely after the escalation of the conflict."
Data provider Cirium said Aeroflot and British Airways were the only carriers to carry passengers between the UK and Russia in the past week. In the last seven days, there have been a total of 24 scheduled passenger flights between the UK and Russia. In January, 93 passenger flights were scheduled between the two countries.