Several Russian airlines, including IrAero, Ural Airlines, and UTair, have canceled flights to Azerbaijan from cities such as Ufa, Samara, Vladikavkaz, Saratov, Nizhny Novgorod, and Sochi.

Axar.az reports that according to Russian media reports, UTair has halted its flights from Ufa and Samara to Baku. Passengers have already received SMS notifications about the cancellations. While these flights remain listed in the booking system, tickets are unavailable for purchase until at least the end of January. UTair’s routes to Baku from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tyumen, and Surgut will continue as scheduled.

IrAero has removed flights to Baku from Vladikavkaz, Saratov, and Nizhny Novgorod. Tickets for these routes are no longer available in the booking system. However, flights from Moscow, Kazan, Perm, Novosibirsk, and Krasnoyarsk are still operational.

Similarly, Ural Airlines has suspended its program from Sochi, leaving only its flights to Baku from Moscow and Yekaterinburg available for booking.

The cancellations follow a decision by Azerbaijan's State Civil Aviation Agency to suspend flights to eight Russian cities starting December 28, 2024, pending the investigation into the AZAL aircraft crash. The affected cities include Mineralnye Vody, Sochi, Volgograd, Ufa, Samara, Saratov, Nizhny Novgorod, and Vladikavkaz. Flight restrictions to Grozny and Makhachkala were introduced earlier on December 25. These measures impact all airlines operating on the affected routes.