Russia sanctions snarl flights, compound airline industry woes

Airlines are bracing for potentially lengthy blockages of key east-west flight corridors after the European Union and Moscow issued tit-for-tat airspace bans and Washington did not rule out similar action in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Industry officials say the Biden administration would ban Russia from US airspace.

The White House said on Monday while barring Russian flights was not off the table, it had yet to make a decision. "There are a lot of flights that US airlines fly over Russia to go to Asia and other parts of the world and we factor in a range of factors," White House spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters.

The issue has been a subject of intense US government discussions in recent days. Senator Dick Durbin, the second-highest ranking Democrat in the US Senate, voiced his support for the ban. "Other countries have done it in Europe and turning the lights out at the airport on those guys isn't a bad idea," he told reporters.

A European official, who asked not to be identified, said the EU had full confidence Washington would follow suit. US Representative Carlos Gimenez, a Republican member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said on Twitter that he would file legislation this week to ban Russian-operated airlines and private jets from flying in US airspace.A move by the White House to ban Russia's carriers is expected to provoke a response from Moscow, which could affect carriers like United Airlines. The Chicago-based carrier, for example, uses Russian airspace for flights from Delhi.

American Airlines said it was not using any Russian airspace for international flights and it would suspend interline deals with Russian carriers Aeroflot and S7 Airlines indefinitely. Russia on Monday banned airlines from 36 countries including all 27 members of the European Union after EU ministers agreed to refuse entry to Russian airplanes including the private jets of the country's oligarchs.

---Reuters, Chicago