El Al, Israel’s national airline, has suspended flights from Tel Aviv to the Russian capital, Moscow. This has been reported by ‘Voice of Israel’ and the Russian Telegram channel Baza.
The decision was taken against the backdrop of “an unstable situation in the airspace due to constant threats of drone attacks on Moscow and the Moscow region”.
The first flight to be cancelled was flight LY611 from Tel Aviv to the Russian capital on 25 June. The airline sent a notification to passengers.
El Al told the Baza channel that flights have been provisionally cancelled until the end of June, and that tickets for new dates will be available for booking from July. However, no specific dates were given for the resumption of flights.
El Al is Israel’s largest airline. In December 2024, following the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft near Aktau, the company suspended flights to Moscow for four months. The air disaster was caused by a missile fired by a Russian air defence system. The aircraft managed to fly over the Caspian Sea and reach Aktau, where it crashed whilst attempting to land. As a result, 38 people were killed (including the pilots, who tried to save the airliner until the very last moment), whilst 29 survived. Following months of pressure from Baku, Moscow accepted responsibility for this tragedy.
In recent months, Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Moscow, the Moscow Region, southern and other regions of Russia, as well as the occupied Crimea. Airports, including those in Moscow, are frequently closed due to drone attacks. However, no specific reports of attacks on airports have been made.