British airlines have been banned from landing in Russia and from crossing its airspace.

The Russian civil aviation regulator said the move was a response to “the unfriendly decisions by the UK aviation authorities”.

The UK yesterday banned Russian flag-carrier Aeroflot, and all other Russian carriers, from the UK.

The measure was part of sanctions introduced following the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Russian civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said: “This measure was taken in accordance with the provisions of the Intergovernmental Air Services Agreement between Russia and the UK as a response to unfriendly decisions by the UK aviation authorities regarding the restriction on regular flights of aircraft owned, leased or operated by a person associated with Russia or registered in Russia.”

According to data from Cirium, there were a total of 24 passenger flights scheduled to depart between the UK and Russia between February 18-25.

Aeroflot were the largest carrier, with 16 flights scheduled between London Heathrow and Moscow Sheremetyevo.

British Airways were the other carrier flying between the countries, with eight scheduled flights linking London Heathrow and Moscow Domodedovo.

Four flights between the two countries were cancelled today, two from Aeroflot and two from British Airways.

British Airways said in a statement it was notifying customers on cancelled services and would offer full refunds.

“We apologise for the inconvenience, but this is clearly a matter beyond our control,” the airline said.

“We will continue to monitor the situation closely.”

Virgin Atlantic also said flight paths had been adjusted for some of its services between the UK, Pakistan and India.

Flight times on these routes will be extended by between 15 minutes and an hour.

The carrier apologised for the delays, and added: “The safety and security of our customers and people always comes first and we are monitoring the situation in Ukraine and Russia extremely carefully following the escalation of conflict.”

Russia has also been stripped of the Champions League final, which was due to take place in St Petersburg but will now be hosted by Paris, and the F1 Grand Prix, which was cancelled earlier.