LONDON, England: After President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine, Russian airline Aeroflot was banned from flying to the UK, and Ireland.

The Czech Republic and Poland have also banned the Russian carrier from conducting flights to and from Prague and Warsaw.

On Saturday night Germany too announced Russian aircraft would not be welcome in German skies. Lufthansa, the German carrier, had already cancelled flights to and from Russia. On Sunday Spain’s ministry of transport said too it would impose a ban. “Spain will proceed to close the airspace to Russian airlines,” the ministry posted on Twitter.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority said it had suspended Aeroflot’s foreign carrier permit after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the ban in parliament on Thursday.

“This means that Aeroflot will not be permitted to operate flights to the UK until further notice,” the authority said.

Following Johnson’s announcement, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he has signed restrictions prohibiting all scheduled Russian airlines from entering British airspace, which also prevents access to Ireland.

Aeroflot however believes the ban is temporary, saying in a statement it was ‘suspending’ flights to and from the UK and Ireland for three months.

Aeroflot is 57 percent owned by the Russian government, with the other 43 percent held by a large number of individual and institutional shareholders. The company is listed on the Moscow Stock Exchange.

“Due to the restrictions imposed by the UK authorities, Aeroflot is suspending all flights to London and Dublin until May 23, 2022,” Aeroflot said in a statement on Friday.

“Aeroflot’s passengers who have arranged transportation to/from/through London and Dublin for flights in the specified period are offered a forced refund or change of the date of transportation to the subsequent period. In addition, passengers traveling to/from London, Dublin can replace these destinations with alternative European locations from Aeroflot’s current schedule.”

Canada as at Saturday was continuing to provide access to its airspace for Russian carriers.

“At this time, Canada’s airspace remains open to Russian carriers. However, the department is actively monitoring the current situation and working closely with key allies, including the United States,” a spokesperson for Canadian Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said in a statement.