El Al suspends all its flights to Russia indefinitely due to irregularities and “events” in Russian airspace. The company is expected to evaluate the situation over the coming week to decide whether to resume its connection with Moscow or not.
The measure taken by the Israeli flag carrier is linked to the recent accident in Kazakhstan, where an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer E190 crashed near Aktau Airport. The incident resulted in 38 fatalities, including crew members, and 29 survivors with injuries of varying severity.
So far, the leading hypothesis regarding the J2 8243 flight is that it was shot down by a missile with a proximity fuse, which struck the rear control surfaces, causing the aircraft to lose control. This was confirmed early this morning by the Azerbaijani government in a preliminary report, which suspects the projectile might be of Russian origin.
El Al operates five weekly flights between Tel Aviv (TLV) and Domodedovo International Airport (DME) in Russia’s capital. The route is serviced with a Boeing 737-900ER on a daily basis from Monday to Friday. The company will notify its passengers about the status of their flights to allow them to reschedule or cancel their trips.
