BEIJING, July 18 -- China's civil aviation authorities told Xinhua on Friday it has ordered all Chinese aircraft flying over Ukraine to avoid airspace over the area where a Malaysia Airlines plane crashed.

There are 28 round-trip flights each week flying over the area, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

A Boeing 777 passenger plane with 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board crashed on Thursday in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border. There were no survivors.