Russia- Ukraine war: UK targets Russian airlines with new sanctions

Russia's state-owned and largest airline Aeroflot, Ural Airlines and Rossiya Airlines will now be unable to sell their lucrative landing slots at UK airports.

London: Russia's state-owned and largest airline Aeroflot, Ural Airlines and Rossiya Airlines will now be unable to sell their lucrative landing slots at UK airports as part of new sanctions imposed by the Boris Johnson government on Thursday.

The additional sanctions being imposed as a reaction against the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, follow an earlier move to ban Russian airlines from landing rights in the UK. The UK Foreign Office said the move would prevent Russia from cashing in on a lucrative resource estimated at GBP 50 million. As long as [Russian President] Putin continues his barbarous assault on Ukraine, we will continue to target the Russian economy, said UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.

We've already closed our airspace to Russian airlines. Today we're making sure they can't cash in their lucrative landing slots at our airports. Every economic sanction reinforces our clear message to Putin we will not stop until Ukraine prevails, she said. The news comes as UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps takes up the Presidency of the International Transport Forum, which he will use to call for a united response against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The UK was one of the first nations to implement sanctions on Putin and his allies; we forbade entrance to their ships and planes, strangling them of the privilege to benefit from global trade and commerce, said Shapps.

Today, the UK government has built on the strong action we have already taken against Russia's flagship carrier Aeroflot, along with Rossiya and Ural Airlines. This means they will be unable to use their expensive landing slots at UK airports. Our actions will also prevent Russia from selling the slots, and cashing in on up to GBP 50 million, he said.