EU shuts airspace to Russian planes

The EU imposes general flight bans on Russian aircraft, said EU Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen. All these planes, including the oligarch's private jet, will not be able to land, take off or fly to EU countries. "We are shutting down EU airspace for Russian-owned, Russian-registered or Russian-controlled aircraft," she said.

Russian planes have also been banned from British airspace. Russia's largest airline, Aeroflot, said it would cancel all flights to its European destinations until further notice in a retaliatory move on Sunday.

The Commission president has said that the EU was also planning to ban the state-owned news outlets of Russia including Sputnik and Russia Today. She also said that they are developing tools to ban the toxic and harmful disinformation in Europe.

Prior to the decision, European countries were gradually closing their airspace. Germany said the ban would last for three months. Flight restrictions require detours by Russian airlines, resulting in longer flight times. 

Commercial airlines have also avoided airspace around Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus after the Russian invasion. In the United States of America, Delta Air Lines has announced that it will suspend its flight booking agreement with Russia's Aeroflot. Britain's ban on Russian flight urged Moscow to retaliate with similar restrictions on British aircraft.