Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash: Air France to avoid east Ukrainian airspace

PARIS (Reuters) - Air France on Thursday it had decided to avoid east Ukrainian airspace after Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed in a field in Ukraine near the Russian border.

An adviser to the Ukrainian interior ministry said all the 280 passengers and 15 crew members onboard died. The Boeing 777 jet was en route to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam. "Air France is monitoring the situation in real time and decided to no longer fly over eastern Ukraine after it was informed of this incident," a spokesman for Air France said.

Separately, Russian airlines Transaero said it would avoid Ukrainian airspace for all future flights.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.