Russia has ordered the grounding of A321 jets flown by Kogalymavia airline while the cause of the deadly crash which killed all 224 people onboard at the weekend is determined.
The Kogalymavia plane came down shortly after taking off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh en route to St Petersburg in clear weather.
The Russian aviation regulator Rostransnadzor issued notice to the airline which flies under the MetroJet brand, to cease operations of A321 planes.
Search team officials said the wreckage was strewn over a wide area and claims by Islamic State militants that they brought the jet down have been dismissed by both Russian and Egyptian authorities.
Despite this, several airlines including Emirates, Air Arabia, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa decided to reroute flight paths away from the Sinai Peninsular.
"We took the decision to avoid the area because the situation and the reasons for the crash were not clear," a Lufthansa spokeswoman said.
The black box flight recorders have been recovered and sent to Cairo for analysis as Egyptian officials suggest a technical issue with the plane is the most likely cause based on evidence recovered from the crash site.
