Feb 24 (Reuters) - The European Union's latest sanctions

against Moscow include a ban on third-country airlines flying to

the 27-nation bloc if they carry out domestic flights in Russia,

the European Commission said on Monday.

The EU's 16th sanctions package against Russia includes a

ban on primary aluminium imports and the sale of gaming

consoles, while also listing a cryptocurrency exchange and

dozens of vessels of the so-called shadow fleet used to evade

sanctions.

Russian authorities are exploring allowing airlines from

other countries to operate domestic flights between Russian

airports as a way to deal with a shortage of aircraft caused by

Western sanctions.

"The package extends the flight ban to enable the listing of

third-country carriers conducting domestic flights within Russia

or supplying aviation goods to Russian airlines or for domestic

flight in Russia," the European Commission said. "If listed,

these airlines will not be allowed to fly to the EU."

Russia's Ministry of Transport declined to comment on the

new EU measures.

Last October Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovoit said

Moscow was in talks with some Central Asian countries,

including Kazakhstan, for their airlines to run domestic flights

in Russia.

Russian airlines, which mainly use Western aircraft

delivered before the war in Ukraine, are struggling to meet the

growing demand for air travel as sanctions hinder access to

parts and plans to supply domestically made airliners are being

constantly postponed.