Canada is now closing its airspace to all Russian aircraft operators, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced on Sunday.
Posted at 9:22
Updated at 9:46 a.m.
“We will hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked attacks on Ukraine,” Omar Alghabra wrote on Twitter.
Russia’s main airline, Aeroflot, uses Canadian airspace for many flights to the United States and beyond.
By closing its airspace on Sunday, Canada is following in the footsteps of several European countries such as Germany, Sweden, France and Italy. Berlin said the overflight ban would be in effect for three months.
In recent days, some European countries had already announced the closure of their airspace to Russia, such as the United Kingdom, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Poland and the Czech Republic. In retaliation, Moscow banned the overflight of its territory to planes linked to these countries.
In retaliation, Russia has banned commercial flights from these countries.
With The Canadian Press and Agence France-Presse