EU bans Belarus jets from its airspace over arrest
The EU has banned Belarusian planes from its skies or accessing its airports following the forced grounding of a Ryanair flight.
European airlines are also being strongly encouraged to avoid flying more than the ex-Soviet country.
EU says are furious at Belarus for forcing a passenger air travel to land on Minsk last month and detaining an opposition journalist who was on board.
However, many airline bodies have criticized the EU for "politicizing" flights.
Roman Protasevich, 26, was first on a airline flight from Greece to Lithuania on 23 May that was rerouted over a supposed bomb threat.
Mr Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega were arrested following the plane was grounded found in the Belarusian capital Minsk.
On Friday, the journalist produced a tearful TV overall look, admitting that he had organised anti-government protests.
But his family declare he was coerced into producing the confession, and rights groups said marks on his wrists obvious in the interview suggested he previously been tortured.
The EU's ban, part of a wider package of sanctions against Belarus, came into effect at midnight Central European Time (22:00 UK time) on Friday.
It requires member claims "to deny permission to area in, remove from or overfly their territories to any aircraft operated by Belarusian air carriers". Enforcement of the ban falls to EU member says.
Belavia, the Belarusian national carrier, flies for some 20 airports in European countries, including Milan, Berlin, Paris, Rome and Vienna.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in addition has issued a directive calling for EU aircraft in order to avoid Belarusian airspace unless within an emergency.
That could affect about 400 civilian planes that usually fly over Belarus every day, in line with the European air visitors control agency Eurocontrol.
Various airlines had already announced they would not fly above the united states, including Lufthansa and Air France.
The EU has recently agreed a raft of monetary sanctions against those mixed up in incident. It really is drawing up further procedures targeting the regime of Belarus's president Alexander Lukashenko.
