United Nations aviation body denies it can close global air routes

The UN's aviation body said it did not have the authority to close global air routes, seeking to distance itself from responsibility after the downing of a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine.

Malaysia's Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said earlier that the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) had shut the route after the Malaysia Airlines jet was brought down in eastern Ukraine on Thursday.

"ICAO does not open or close routes. We do not have an operational role," said chief ICAO spokesman Anthony Philbin.

The organisation did issue a warning to airlines in April about flying over Crimea in the wake of the Russian invasion but it cited potential problems with conflicting air traffic controllers, not the risk of violence.

The warning, not an order, said "consideration should be given to measures to avoid the airspace". It did not issue a warning for eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian rebels are fighting Ukrainian forces.

Malaysia said the ICAO had approved the route but this appeared to be a misreading of what the body does. ICAO issues advisories based on decisions taken by delegates rather than telling members what to do.

"It is up to countries to implement them or not, most countries do … but ICAO standards are more or less equivalent to a treaty, you can either comply or not as you see fit," said a Canadian expert on aviation law.