Air India has cancelled direct flights to Moscow over alleged fears of insurance invalidity, while Aeroflot – the Russian national carrier – has also stopped international services, apprehending seizure of planes by lessors.

Flight insurance is generally provided by companies based out of Western countries. However, they had banned all Russian airlines from their airspace after Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

Air India has reportedly stopped its twice-weekly direct flights on the Delhi-Moscow-Delhi route since April 1, while Aeroflot stopped all international operations from last month.

In an official statement, Air India said it “has cancelled one return flight on the Delhi-Moscow-Delhi sector of 7th April, 2022”. It did not give a reason for cancellation.

Sources, however, say the flight was cancelled as it feared that insurance would not be valid in the Russian airspace.

Russian News Agency, TASS, however, on its website quotes a Russian Embassy statement, which says Air India has stopped selling tickets on the Delhi-Moscow-Delhi route. The prospects of flights of this airline to Russia are unclear at the moment, it added.

““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. According to Air India office, passengers are entitled to the full refund for the canceled flights,” the Russian embassy said in a statement in its Telegram channel.

The Embassy has suggested an alternative routes. It suggests using transit routes from India to Russia through Tashkent, Istanbul, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and other destinations.

India has not banned Russian airlines from its airspace.

AIr Canada suspends Vancouver-Delhi flight

Meanwhile, Air Canada has also suspended flights between Vancouver and Delhi beginning June to September this year. The route is “operationally constrained”, the airlines said.

Operational constraints are “because of extended flying times and a re-fueling stop that is required due to the current flight paths taken to go around Russian and Ukraine airspace,” its statement read.

Summer wind and weather conditions in South Asia are expected to compound these constraints, making the route unviable during this period.

Air Canada will however continue to operate up to 11 weekly flights between itself and India from Toronto (daily) and Montreal (up to four times weekly) “as these routes utilize different flight paths”.

Published on April 7, 2022