Turkmenistan Airlines Suspends Flights Between Ashgabat and Moscow Until January 31
On Monday, Turkmenistan Airlines implemented its decision to suspend flights between Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, and Moscow until the end of January. The state-owned carrier announced on Saturday that all regular flights on the Ashgabat-Moscow-Ashgabat route would be canceled from December 30 to January 31.
The airline did not specify the reasons behind the cancellation, but assured passengers that refunds would be available. This move follows a growing trend of airlines halting flights to Russian destinations, sparked by the tragic crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines flight in Kazakhstan last week.
The crash involved an Embraer 190 aircraft traveling from Baku to Grozny, Russia. The plane went down near Aktau on the Caspian Sea coast, killing 38 of the 67 people onboard, with 29 survivors. Investigations are ongoing, and while initial reports pointed to a possible bird strike as the cause, damage to the aircraft’s tail has raised suspicions of a missile attack. Azerbaijani officials have confirmed the possibility of a Russian missile system being involved in the incident. In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, offering his apologies over the tragic event.
