Airlines cites ‘developments in Russia's airspace' as a reason for flights cancellation, Israeli media reports
Israeli's flagship career El Al has canceled its flights to the Russian capital Moscow for the coming week, citing “developments in Russia's airspace,” Israeli media reported on Thursday.
This came a day after an Azerbaijan Airlines plane with 67 people on board traveling from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the city of Grozny in the Russian Republic of Chechnya crashed about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the Kazakh city of Aktau, located on the Caspian Sea coast.
According to Kazakh officials, 38 people were killed in the crash of the Embraer 190 aircraft, while 29 others survived, as both Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have launched investigations into the incident.
Aviation officials attributed the cancellation decision to the crash of the Azerbaijani plane in Kazakhstan, the Israeli daily Jerusalem Post reported.
Senior Azerbaijani officials on Thursday confirmed to Anadolu the validity of earlier media reports suggesting that an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash near the Kazakh city of Aktau on Wednesday was caused by a Russian missile system.
Earlier, Azerbaijani media, citing government sources, reported that the preliminary results of the investigation into the incident determined that the plane was attacked by a Pantsir missile system as it approached the city of Grozny.
According to the report, the aircraft's communication system was completely paralyzed due to the use of Russian electronic warfare systems, which resulted in the plane disappearing from radars while in Russian airspace.
It added that the plane only reappeared in radars while it was in the area around the Caspian Sea.
