Ukraine completely closed its airspace to commercial aircraft immediately after the start of the Russian military offensive early on Thursday, forcing the cancellation of all flights between its capital Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities and Yerevan.
For its part, Russia banned civilian flights over its western and southern regions bordering Ukraine and Belarus. It temporarily shut down the airports of the southern Russian cities of Krasnodar and Rostov that also offered regular flight services to Armenia.
Airlines carrying out daily flights between Moscow and Yerevan thus have to bypass the Krasnodar and Rostov regions and take a longer route as a result. Many of those flights were again delayed by a few hours on Friday.
“We got this morning a text message and call from [the Russian airline] Aeroflot saying that our flight will be delayed,” said one passenger waiting for his flight to Moscow at Yerevan’s Zvartnots airport. “And we are going to take a longer route. The flight was supposed to take about three hours. It will now last for about four or just over four hours.”
“The partial closure of Russian airspace has diverted everyone from their usual routes,” said Gevorg Khachatrian, the executive director of Air Company Armenia, a local carrier.
“Now an alternative route is offered to not only our company but also all other airlines that fly from Armenia to Russia. The flights therefore take an extra 40-45 minutes,” Khachatrian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
The longer flights also mean additional costs incurred by Russian and Armenian airlines, he said.