Following Shoot Down of Azerbaijani Plane, More Foreign Carriers Exit Russian Market

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Dec. 27 – Many international air carriers cancelled flights to and from Russian destinations after Putin launched his expanded war in Ukraine. Now, in the wake of the Russian shooting down of the Azerbaijani passenger plane, even more are doing so, including in particular carriers from neighboring countries where passenger volume is greatest.
    This has complicated the travel plans of Russians hoping to go abroad, led to price rises, and forced Russians who want to travel further afield to purchase two tickets for flights in each direction, one with a carrier still servicing Russian fields and a second  for onward flights to final destinations (novayagazeta.eu/articles/2024/12/27/problemu-ne-spriachesh).
    In the short term, this is causing problems for Russian carriers as well, putting additional strains on an already overburdened system and making accidents more likely; but in the longer term, it may lead to the complete domination of the Russian market by Russian carriers and the re-consolidation of Russian carriers into a single Aeroflot company as in Soviet times.