Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what information her Department holds on reports of Russian flights to Istanbul transiting EU airspace; and what diplomatic steps she is taking with her European counterparts to help prevent the use of European airspace by Russian civil airlines.

We are not aware of the incidents referred to in the question. However, we welcome the European Union decision to close its airspace for Russian-owned, Russian-registered or Russian-controlled aircraft. The UK continues to work closely with the European Union and other international partners on restrictions against Russian aircraft and aviation.

From 8pm on 25 February the UK prohibited all Russian aircraft from flying in UK airspace, including both scheduled and non-scheduled flights. The Foreign Secretary followed this by announcing new powers on 8 March to detain Russian aircraft and remove aircraft belonging to designated individuals and entities from the UK register. As well as ban the export of aviation and space-related goods and technology including technical assistance and a further ban on UK companies providing insurance and re-insurance services in relation to these goods and technology.