Airlines From Serbia, Uzbekistan Limit Russian Connectivity

Air Serbia and Uzbekistan’s Qanot Sharq have limited flights to Russia just two weeks after an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) Embraer E190 crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, after experiencing an outside impact over Grozny, Russia, on Dec. 25.

The AZAL crash killed 38 out of 67 people aboard. Before Air Serbia and Qanot Sharq, flights to Russian destinations have been suspended or limited by AZAL, Qazaq Air, El Al, Flydubai and Turkmenistan Airlines.

Qanot Sharq is suspending its flights to Moscow from Uzbek cities Tashkent, Bukhara, Fergana, Namangan and Samarkand between Jan. 20-March 6. Its flights to St. Petersburg have been suspended only from Namangan and Samarkand for the same period.

The airline said its reason for the suspensions was the necessity to withdraw one-by-one its two Airbus A320s operating to the Russian destinations for C-checks. Even though Qanot Sharq confirmed to Aviation Week that it had no plans to stop flying to Russia, the Uzbek carrier evidently has no opportunity to replace the withdrawn capacities with its other aircraft—a pair of A321neos or a wet-leased A330.

Other local carriers have told Aviation Week that since 2022, it has been difficult finding a lessor that will approve its aircraft flying to Russia.

Air Serbia—which remains one of two European carriers still flying to Russia; Turkish Airlines being the other—will suspend flights from Belgrade to Sochi and Kazan starting Jan. 19-20 to the end of the winter season, Russia’s Association of Tour Operators reported Jan. 4, referring to the airline’s booking system. Both airports have seen drone attacks recently and have frequently been closed.

Air Serbia provided no official comment to Aviation Week about the reason for the flight suspension. However, it will continue to operate flights to Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Despite Russian president Vladimir Putin’s apology to his Azerbaijan counterpart Ilham Aliyev for the fact that the AZAL aircraft incident started in Russian airspace, Aliyev continues to demand punishment for those responsible for the crash.

“I can say with confidence that the blame for the death of Azerbaijani citizens in this crash rests with representatives of the Russian Federation,” Interfax-Ukraine news agency cited Aliyev saying at a Jan. 6 meeting with families of the crewmembers who died in the crash and the surviving flight attendants.

Aliev said the flight recorders from AZAL Flight J2 8243 are now being decoded. Kazakhstan’s investigators sent them to the Brazilian Center for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (CENIPA) for that purpose on Dec. 30.

On Jan. 4, KazTAG news agency cited a Kazakhstan Transport Ministry statement that promised to publish a preliminary investigation report within 30 days after the crash.