Belarus: Russian authorities deny entry to European airlines as EU mulls sanctions on Belarus - by Tara John, Nadine Schmidt, Tim Lister and Chris Liakos

At least two European airlines have been refused permission to fly to Moscow by Russian authorities after the carriers requested to fly an alternative route bypassing Belarusian airspace. Russia's move, underlining Moscow's support for Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's regime, comes as the European Union mulls fresh sanctions against Belarus following what leaders have described as the state-sanctioned hijacking of a passenger flight over Belarus last Sunday. Austrian Airlines canceled a scheduled flight from Vienna to Moscow on Thursday, saying in a statement: "A change in flight routes must be approved by the authorities. The Russian authorities did not give us this permit. As a result, Austrian Airlines had to cancel today's flight from Vienna to Moscow."

On Wednesday, Air France also canceled its flight to and from Moscow, citing similar reasons.

The EU has already applied a ban on Belarus-registered carriers flying to and from European airports and urged European airlines to avoid Belarus airspace. The Belarus national carrier Belavia has canceled flights to multiple destinations as a result of the EU's actions, which were introduced Monday.

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