MINSK, May 26. /TASS/. Belarusian airline Belavia was forced to turn back a plane en route from Minsk to Barcelona, because France canceled the plane’s flight plan at the very last minute after a direct verbal order from the prime minister, the company said Wednesday.

"Today, the company was supposed to carry out flight B2869 Minsk-Barcelona-Minsk. The Embraer 195 aircraft carried 54 passengers. Belavia had all permissions for this flight, the aircraft departed from the airport on time," the carrier said. "However, as we learned later, French authorities manually deactivated the plane’s flight plan three minutes before takeoff, without notifying the airline."

The company noted that this information was conveyed to the pilot during its climb by Polish air traffic control.

"Attempts to amend the route mid-air in contact with Marseille air traffic control bore no results. Even more, the French dispatch cited a verbal instruction from the prime minister of France," the statement says.

The company also pointed out that the ban on Minsk-Paris flights, received from French aviation authorities earlier, did not include a ban on overflights in French airspace.

"Belavia received the updated ban only at 15:16 today. Until that time, the plane was circling in the air for about two hours, after which it returned to Minsk," the statement says.

A repeat attempt to negotiate the route with the Marseille air traffic control was also unsuccessful, including in regards to overflights over neutral waters, which, according to the company, violates the UN Chicago Convention.

Earlier, EU countries decided to ban Belarusian carriers from flying to EU airports and using its airspace, and recommended their own airlines to avoid flying over Belarus.