Air India cancels Delhi-Moscow flight as insurance flag security concern

Air India on Thursday cancelled one return flight on the Delhi-Moscow-Delhi sector, after carrying out normal flight operations so far since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out on February 24.

The Russian embassy has said that Air India has stopped selling tickets on the Delhi-Moscow-Delhi route and the prospects for the resumption of the services are uncertain.

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In a statement, the Russian embassy said, “Dear fellow citizens. We draw your attention that the Indian airline Air India has stopped selling tickets on the Delhi-Moscow-Delhi route, the prospects for resuming flights of this airline to Russia are uncertain at the moment.”

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In absence of direct flight to Moscow, Air India operates Delhi-Moscow-Delhi flights twice a week. The passengers flying to Moscow will have to use Tashkent, Istanbul, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha routes.

Air India took part in India’s evacuation mission ‘Operation Ganga’ to rescue Indians stranded in Ukraine.

Flight insurance is generally provided by companies based out of western countries.

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It is reported that Western countries banned all Russian airlines from their airspace after Russia started a war against Ukraine on February 24.

India, however, has not banned Russian airlines from its airspace. Air India has been operating Delhi-Moscow flights twice a week.

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They stated that the flight was cancelled as it was feared that the insurance may not be valid in Russian skies.