Kazakhstan airline suspends flights to Russia due to safety concerns

KAZAQ AIR airline has temporarily suspended flights on the Astana-Yekaterinburg route from December 28, 2024, to January 27, 2025.

The airline announced this decision, reporting that flights to Russia were suspended following a risk assessment aimed at ensuring the safety of passengers and crew members.

"The airline will continue flights to Omsk and Novosibirsk, which currently meet the risk assessment criteria of KAZAQ AIR. Flights to Yekaterinburg will resume after a re-assessment of the risks," the company stated.

Passengers on canceled flights will receive full refunds and be offered free rebooking on the airline's alternative flights.

Additionally, we would like to inform you that the captain of Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) flight number J2-8717, on the Baku-Mineralnye Vody route, received a NOTAM (flight information notice) about the closure of the airspace over Makhachkala before leaving Baku's airspace and decided to return.

The plane safely landed at Heydar Aliyev International Airport at 10:13 local time.

It is also important to note that on December 25, an Embraer 190 passenger plane, flying the Baku-Grozny route, crashed 3 km from Aktau Airport.

There were 62 passengers and 5 crew members on the Embraer 190 plane, which was on the Baku-Grozny flight, totaling 67 people.

Following the accident, 27 people were hospitalized: 15 citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 8 citizens of the Russian Federation, and 3 citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic. One individual has not yet been identified.

Three crew members, including both pilots, were killed, while two crew members survived.