El Al suspends Moscow flights through March after Azeri plane apparently downed by Russian air defenses

Sharon Wrobel is a tech reporter for The Times of Israel.

An El Al flight takes off at the Ben Gurion International Airport, outside of Tel Aviv, August 25, 2024. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)
An El Al flight takes off at the Ben Gurion International Airport, outside of Tel Aviv, August 25, 2024. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

Israel’s flagship carrier El Al says it has decided to extend the suspension of its flights from Tel Aviv to Moscow until the end of March.

The move comes after El Al halted air traffic to and from Moscow last week citing “developments in Russia’s airspace” after Azeri officials said a passenger jet that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday had been downed by Russian air defenses.

“After conducting a comprehensive situation assessment, El Al suspends all of its operations on the Tel Aviv-Moscow route until the end of the winter schedule,” El Al says in a statement. “The decision comes after ongoing dialogue with the authorities in the country to understand the situation.”

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