Turkmenistan Airlines suspends Ashgabat-Moscow flights for one month

Turkmenistan Airlines has announced the cancellation of its regular flights between Ashgabat and Moscow from December 30, 2024, to January 31, 2025.

The airline informed passengers that they could receive a full refund for their tickets during this period, per Caliber.Az. 

The airline did not disclose the reasons for the flight cancellations. Meanwhile, S7 Airlines continues to operate direct flights on the Ashgabat-Moscow route.

This suspension follows a previous disruption in August 2023, when Turkmenistan Airlines temporarily halted flights to Moscow due to safety concerns in the Moscow airspace. At the time, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that a Ukrainian drone attack in the Moscow region had been suppressed on August 21, 2023.

Other airlines have also made adjustments to their flight schedules following the recent crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) flight near Aktau on December 25, 2024. Azerbaijan Airlines suspended flights from Baku to several Russian cities, including Mineralnye Vody, Sochi, Volgograd, Ufa, Samara, Grozny, and Makhachkala starting December 28.

Additionally, Kazakhstan's Qazaq Air suspended flights between Astana and Yekaterinburg for safety reasons, effective from December 28, 2024, through January 27, 2025.

Israeli airline El Al also halted its Tel Aviv-Moscow flights, with plans to reassess the situation within a week to determine if services will resume.

By Tamilla Hasanova