Safety agency urges EU nations to ban use of Belarus airspace

PARIS - Europe's air safety regulator upgraded a safety warning over Belarus airspace on Wednesday, urging its 31 mainly European Union nations to instruct their airlines to avoid overflying Belarus in the wake of the forced landing of a Ryanair jet.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which oversees regional safety but lacks the authority to issue an operational ban directly, last week issued a recommendation to airlines but updated this with a new directive to governments.