Airlines Massively Cancel Flights to Moscow

Nearly 30 flights to and from Moscow were cancelled on September 2, following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s statement about closing Russian airspace, Delfi reported, citing RBC-Ukraine and the Telegram channel Agentstvo Novosti.

The cancellations involved 27 flights at Moscow’s Vnukovo and Domodedovo airports. Pegasus cancelled six flights to Moscow and six return flights, while Turkish Airlines cancelled two flights each way between Istanbul and Vnukovo. Flydubai, Nesma Airlines, Shirak Avia, Kuwait Airways and Somon Air also cancelled scheduled services involving Dubai, Sharm el-Sheikh, Yerevan, Kuwait and Dushanbe.

Most of the cancelled flights were scheduled to arrive in Moscow or depart during the night or early morning. Other airlines continued operating flights, according to the report. The previous day, only three flights had failed to arrive at the two airports: Flydubai and Iraqi Airways services at Vnukovo, and a Belavia flight from Minsk at Domodedovo.

Pegasus attributed its overnight cancellations to “technical and operational reasons” and said other flights were operating as scheduled. Turkish Airlines said it had replaced two narrow-body aircraft with one wide-body aircraft, explaining the cancellations.

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technical and operational reasons