By The Moscow Times | Created at 2026-09-04 10:05:12 | Updated at 2026-09-04 11:39:34
1 hour ago
Air Tanzania said Friday that it has temporarily suspended flights between the East African country’s capital and Moscow due to safety concerns after Ukraine warned that its nightly drone attacks had made Russian airspace dangerous for flying.
“Safety considerations always take precedence over commercial ones,” Air Tanzania said in a statement, adding that the suspension followed a “routine risk assessment of the operating environment along the route.”
The decision comes two months after Air Tanzania launched direct flights to Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport.
Air Tanzania said it would provide affected passengers full refunds or free rebooking options. It later said that flights to and from Moscow would resume on Monday next week.
Despite the flight suspension, the website for Vnukovo still lists one arrival and one departure flight from Air Tanzania on Saturday.
Russia’s Transportation Ministry said Wednesday that civil aviation authorities were working with the military to prevent “any significant disruption” to domestic air travel following Ukraine’s airspace warning earlier in the week.
President Vladimir Putin condemned the Ukrainian claim as “a manifestation of state terrorism” intended to disrupt potential peace talks, which he called “de facto frozen.”
Turkish carrier Pegasus Airlines said Wednesday that it had canceled some flights to Russia for “technical and operational” reasons but did not provide further information.
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