World Bulletin/News Desk

Turkish Airlines said on Thursday all of its flights would avoid Ukrainian airspace after a Malaysian airliner crashed in the east of the country.

"After the incident we have decided to avoid Ukrainian airspace," a Turkish Airlines spokesman said.

U.S. airlines have voluntarily agreed to avoid airspace near the Russia-Ukraine border, the Federal Aviation Administration said on Thursday.

The agency said it consulted U.S. airlines after learning of the crash of a Malaysia Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

The FAA said it was monitoring the situation to determine if additional guidance to airlines was warranted.

British Airways also said on Thursday that it was keeping its once-a-day route between Heathrow airport and Kiev under review after a Malaysian Airline flight was shot down in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border.

The plane was brought down on Thursday, killing all 295 people aboard and sharply raising stakes in a conflict between Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels.

"Our flights are not using Ukrainian airspace, with the exception of our once-a-day service between Heathrow and Kiev," a British Airways spokeswoman said.

"We are keeping those services under review, but Kiev is several hundred kilometres from the incident site.

Russia's state-controlled Aeroflot,  Germany's largest airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Russian airline Transaero, will no longer fly over Ukraine, officials said earlier.

Itar-Tass news agency quoted Russia's Emergencies Ministry as saying there were no Russians on board the plane.

Aviation safety authorities in the United States and Europe warned pilots in April about potential risks flying in or near Ukraine airspace.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on April 23 issued a "special notice" regarding Ukrainian airspace to U.S. aviators and air carriers advising them not to fly in airspace around the Crimean city of Simferopol without special approval of the U.S. government.

The notice also warned U.S. operators and pilots flying in other parts of Ukraine, including Kiev, Lvov, Dnepropetrovsk and Odessa, to "exercise extreme caution due to the continuing potential for instability."

The warning remains in effect until April 23, 2015.

International aviation agencies in April also had warned pilots and airlines to avoid the airspace around Simferopol.

Agencies including the European Aviation Safety Agency and ICAO, a United Nations civil aviation agency, warned that airlines faced "serious risks" in the area and advised airlines to take alternate routes.