Azerbaijan and Russia plan to resume direct air service on several…
Azerbaijan and Russia plan to resume direct air service on several routes in the near future, flights along which were restricted following the crash of an AZAL aircraft in December 2024. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov announced this after meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.
Consensus
- Azerbaijan plans to restore direct flights with several Russian cities in the near future.
- The flight restrictions were imposed after the December 2024 crash of an AZAL Embraer-190 passenger plane.
- The crash occurred near Aktau, Kazakhstan, on December 25, 2024, resulting in 38 fatalities.
- Russian air defense systems fired two missiles during a Ukrainian drone attack; the missiles exploded near but did not directly hit the aircraft.
- Russia and Azerbaijan have fully resolved all disputes related to the incident.
- A joint statement confirmed that compensation will be paid to victims' families, and both countries affirmed their intention to continue cooperation.
- A meeting between Russian and Azerbaijani vice-premiers is scheduled for September to discuss trade and economic issues.
- Relations between Azerbaijan and Russia have been fully normalized.
Points of divergence
- In December 2025, Vladimir Putin admitted during a meeting with Ilham Aliyev that Russian air defense systems fired two missiles at the AZAL plane. — tvrain
- Putin made this admission in October 2025 during a meeting with Ilham Aliyev, stating the missiles exploded about 10 meters from the aircraft. — vedomosti
- A compensation agreement was signed between Russia and Azerbaijan in April 2026. — kommerant
Coverage (7 sources)
- Azerbaijan intends to restore direct flights from several Russian cities — Вести
- Azerbaijan will restore air links with Russia 'on a number of routes' — Дождь
- Azerbaijan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Announces Plans to Resume Direct Flights with Russia — Коммерсантъ
- Azerbaijan to restore air links with Russia 'on a number of routes' — Дождь (Telegram)
- Direct flights between Azerbaijan and Russia planned to resume — Ведомости
- Azerbaijan plans to soon restore direct flights to several Russian cities — Интерфакс
- Azerbaijan plans to resume direct flights to Russia soon, Foreign Minister says — Первый Московский
Key entities
- Azerbaijan
- Russia
- MID
- Dzaykhun Bayramov
- Moscow
- Sergey Lavrov
- AZAL
- INTERFAX.RU
- Sochi
- Mineralnye Vody
- Makhachkala
- Grozny
- Baku
- Alexey Overchuk
- Vladikavkaz
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