Air India suspends Russia nonstops; no direct air connectivity between the 2 countries now

NEW DELHI: India and Russia no longer have direct air connectivity. Air India had to suspend its twice-weekly Delhi-Moscow nonstop from April 1, 2022, as the airline’s renewed insurance contract in force from that day prohibits its aircraft from landing in and taking off from Russia and Ukraine, say people in the know. AI can, however, continue to overfly Russian airspace under the renewed insurance contracts with 5 to 6 different companies, including Tata-AIG, for its aircraft, they add.
Due to this clause, the last Delhi-Moscow-Delhi flight was operated on March 31, 2022, and the plan to introduce Mumbai-Moscow has been shelved for now. The flights will now be resumed once the war in Ukraine ends and International insurance companies resume covering aircraft going to Russia.
Russian carrier Aeroflot, which also had a twice-weekly to Delhi, had last month stopped all international flights due to concerns that its planes may be seized by lessors. As of now, people will need to travel between India and Russia through hubs in Tashkent, Istanbul and in the Gulf like Dubai and Abu Dhabi.