Baku (TDI): Azerbaijan Airlines canceled a flight to the southwest Russian city of Kazan on Wednesday after the airspace over the city was closed as a security precaution, Azerbaijan’s state media reported.
The cancellation of the Baku-Kazan-Baku flight came two weeks after an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger aircraft crashed in Kazakhstan after, according to Azerbaijan, the plane was accidentally hit by Russian ground fire and diverted from a planned landing in Grozny, Chechnya.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not confirmed the Azerbaijani account, though he apologized and stated Russian air defenses were repelling Ukrainian drones over Grozny and two other Russian areas at the time.
The cancellation of the Kazan-bound flight came after Moscow’s announcement of its so-called “Kovyor,” or “carpet,” operation, in which airspace over an area is closed temporarily because due to a perceived threat.
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Kazan has previously been attacked by long-range Ukrainian drones.
The Kovyor protocol came under scrutiny after an Azerbaijani airliner crashed on December 25 in Aktau, Kazakhstan, perishing 38 people and leaving 29 survivors.
Without naming Putin, President Ilham Aliyev has harshly criticized Russian authorities for alleged attempts to cover up what happened by floating false theories about the cause of the crash and stated the Kovyor plan was activated after the aircraft was shot at, indicating criminal liability.
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Kazakhstan is leading the probe team, which includes officials from Azerbaijan and Russia as well as input from Brazilian technicians who have checked the flight data and cockpit voice recorders from the Brazil-produced Embraer 190 aircraft.
Kazakhstan has said a preliminary report is likely to be prepared within 30 days of the crash.
