Air Tanzania Temporarily Halts Moscow Flights After Zelensky's Airspace Warning
Tanzania's national carrier has temporarily suspended flights to Moscow citing safety concerns after Ukraine warned that nightly drone strikes make Russian airspace dangerous. The airline says service will resume next week.
Air Tanzania announced Friday that it has temporarily suspended flights between the country's capital and Moscow, citing safety concerns. The move follows a warning from Ukraine that its nightly drone attacks have made Russian airspace dangerous for civil aviation.
In a statement, the airline said safety considerations always take precedence over commercial ones, adding that the suspension resulted from a routine risk assessment of the operating environment along the route. The airline had only launched direct flights to Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport two months earlier. Affected passengers will be offered full refunds or free rebooking.
The carrier later said flights to and from Moscow would resume on Monday next week. Despite the announced suspension, Vnukovo airport's website still listed one Air Tanzania arrival and one departure for Saturday, pointing to some inconsistency in the schedule.
Russia's Transportation Ministry said Wednesday that civil aviation authorities were coordinating with the military to prevent significant disruption to domestic air travel following Ukraine's warning earlier in the week. President Vladimir Putin condemned Ukraine's claim as a manifestation of state terrorism, arguing it was intended to derail potential peace talks, which he described as effectively frozen.
Separately, Turkish carrier Pegasus Airlines said Wednesday it had canceled some flights to Russia for technical and operational reasons, without providing further details.
