Canada closes airspace to Russian aircraft operators

Canada is closing its airspace to Russian aircraft operators effective immediately, says Transport Minister Omar Alghabra.

Alghabra announced the move in a tweet posted Sunday morning. The decision aligns Canadian policy with many European nations who announced similar decisions over the past several days.

Russian-owned aircraft are banned from airspace above Germany, the U.K., Italy, the Baltic states and others. Those policies leave much of European airspace closed to Russian planes.

As late as Friday, Alghabra told The Canadian Press this country's airspace remained open to Russian carriers, but the transport department was considering options and working with allies.

Russia's flagship carrier Aeroflot operates multiple flights per day through Canadian airspace en route to the U.S. and beyond.

The decision will add hours to some flights and make others "impossible," said aerospace consultant Ross Aimer.

Russia has responded by banning commercial flights from the U.K., Poland, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.

It's the most recent move meant to respond to Russia's invasion of Ukraine earlier this week. Canada also levied what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described as "severe, co-ordinated sanctions" on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle.

On Saturday, North American and European countries, in a move backed by Canada, said they would cut some Russian banks off from the crucial SWIFT financial communications system.