LONDON, July 18 -- British airlines are avoiding the airspace in eastern Ukraine or re-routing their flights to keep away from the conflict zone, some airlines said Friday.

British Airways said its flights would avoid Ukrainian airspace and keep its only service between London's Heathrow Airport and Ukrainian capital Kiev under review.

"Our flights are not using Ukrainian airspace, with the exception of our once-a-day service between Heathrow and Kiev," a spokesman for British Airways said in a statement.

"We are keeping those services under review but Kiev is several hundred kilometers from the incident site," the statement added.

British airline Virgin Atlantic also said it was re-routing a small number of flights, according to a BBC report.

On Friday, British Prime Minister David Cameron will chair a Cobra emergency meeting with his ministers to discuss the matter.

At least nine Britons were on board the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, with some passengers' nationalities yet to be determined, Malaysian Airlines said Friday in a statement.

It added that "all European flights operated by Malaysia Airlines will be taking alternative routes avoiding the usual route" with immediate effect.

MH17 was carrying a total number of 298 people, including 283 passengers, three infants and 15 crew of Malaysian nationality, the airline said.

The flight crashed Thursday in eastern Ukraine en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, with Kiev trading accusations of blame with militants.