On Wednesday, Azerbaijan Airlines announced that it is indefinitely suspending all its flights between Baku and Kazan “due to the recent regular closure of airspace over Kazan.” The measure is necessary “to ensure flight safety,” the airline explained in a message on its Telegram channel.
On the morning of December 25, an Azerbaijan Airlines plane en route from Baku to Grozny crashed near Aktau, resulting in the deaths of 38 people. Three days later, Vladimir Putin formally apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for the “tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace.” Euronews and Reuters, citing sources in the Azerbaijani government, reported that a Russian air defense system caused the crash. Euronews stated that a missile was fired at the plane during “drone activity” over Grozny and detonated near the aircraft, damaging its structure.
In the weeks since Putin’s telephone call, Azerbaijan’s president has continued to demand that Russia must prosecute those responsible and pay compensation to the victims and their families.
After the December 25 crash, several foreign airlines began canceling flights to Russia. Azerbaijan Airlines suspended flights to 10 Russian cities, including Grozny, Makhachkala, Sochi, Mineralnye Vody, Vladikavkaz, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Saratov, Ufa, and Volgograd. Israel’s national carrier, El Al, suspended flights from Tel Aviv to Moscow until at least late March 2025. FlyDubai canceled flights from Dubai to Sochi and Mineralnye Vody, and Kazakhstan’s Qazaq Air halted its Astana–Yekaterinburg route.
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