Russia’s aviation authority banned UK airlines flying to Russia and within its airspace on Friday (25 February) in direct retaliation for the British government banning Aeroflot from flying to the UK after Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday (24 February).

British Airways, which operates three flights a week from Heathrow to Moscow, has cancelled those services, while some long-haul flights may have to be extended due to the need to re-route around Russian airspace. 

The move has also forced Virgin Atlantic to adjust its flight paths on some services from the UK to Pakistan and India, adding between 15 minutes and one hour to flight times, depending on the route.

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: “We apologise for any inconvenience caused to customers by slightly longer flight times. 

“The safety and security of our customers and people always comes first and we’re monitoring the situation in Ukraine and Russia extremely carefully following the escalation of conflict, continuing to operate in full compliance with relevant safety regulators, authorities and governments.”

Virgin has four routes that usually overfly Russia: Heathrow to Islamabad, Lahore and Delhi, plus Manchester to Islamabad. The airline is also suspending cargo-only flights between Heathrow and Shanghai to “assess our ability to re-route these services”.

John Grant, senior analyst at aviation data specialist OAG, told TTG: “Obviously the closure of Russian airspace is a challenge, but let’s not forget China, Japan and South Korea are virtually closed to international arrivals at the moment.

“New more advanced aircraft with longer ranges may be able to find non-stop routings that work. As for higher fuel and operating costs, this is again a challenge. But let’s not forget overflying Russian airspace was among the most expensive in the world, so that’s a saving and more lost revenue to the Russians.”

Data from aviation analytics firm Cirium showed there were a total of 24 scheduled passenger flights due to operate between the UK and Russia during the current week, with both BA and Aeroflot running services between Heathrow and Moscow. 

In January, there was a total of 93 passenger flights between the UK and Russia with a combined 27,428 seats.