British Airways has said it will continue to fly over Egypt’s Sinai peninsula after a Russian plane crashed on Saturday, killing all 224 people on board.

The company made the announcement after leading airlines Emirates, Lufthansa and Air France said they stopped flying over the area until the reasons behind the crash are revealed.

A local affiliate of the Islamic State claimed it “brought down” the aircraft, but Russia’s transport minister dismissed the statement and there was no independent evidence to support the claim.

Following the crash, BA said it had no plans to alter its route to and from the popular Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh, the origin of the Metrojet flight which crashed 23 minutes after takeoff.

A BA spokeswoman said: “The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority, and we would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so."

“Our safety team continually liaises with the appropriate authorities around the world, and we conduct very detailed risk assessments into every route we operate.”

The cause of Saturday’s crash is not yet known. The Russian plane, bound for St. Petersburg, went down in a remote mountainous area of Sinai after plummeting from around 30,000ft