Azerbaijan Airlines has suspended flights to eight additional Russian airports after a flight meant to carry passengers from Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku to Grozny, Russia crashed “due to physical and technical external interference,” the airline has announced.
Reports suggest that a Russian anti-aircraft missile may have been responsible for the disaster.
The airline noted in a post on X that beginning Dec. 28, flights from Baku to eight Russian airports have been suspended. The announcement comes in addition to the prior suspension of flights between Baku and two other Russian airports.
“This decision, made in accordance with the Azerbaijan State Civil Aviation Authority, is based on the preliminary results of the investigation into the crash of the Embraer 190 aircraft operating the Baku-Grozny flight J2-8243 of Azerbaijan Airlines due to physical and technical external interference and considers potential risks to flight safety. The suspension will remain in effect until the completion of the final investigation,” the airline explained in the X post.
Emergency specialists work at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet near the western Kazakh city of Aktau on Dec. 25, 2024. (ISSA TAZHENBAYEV/AFP via Getty Images)
“No one claims that it was done on purpose. However, taking into account the established facts, Baku expects the Russian side to confess to the shooting down of the Azerbaijani aircraft,” the source noted, according to Reuters.
