Latvia-based regional airline airBaltic on Monday said it was avoiding Belarusian airspace after Belarus forced a Vilnius-bound Ryanair flight carrying an opposition blogger to land and arrested him. Following the incident on Sunday, airBaltic "decided to avoid entering Belarus airspace until the situation becomes clearer or a decision is issued by the authorities," the company said in a statement. "The safety and health of our passengers and employees is the main priority for the airline," it said, adding that it would "closely monitor the situation". The airline said that in line with a recommendation from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency so far two of its flights -- to Ukraine and Georgia -- had been re-routed to avoid Belarusian airspace. Lithuania and Latvia on Sunday called for all international flights to avoid Belarusian airspace as a sanction against Belarusian authorities. bur-dt/mas/dl