Pegasus Airlines and Turkish Airlines disrupted several Turkey–Moscow services after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russian airspace was becoming unsafe because of rising drone activity. Flights linked to Istanbul and Antalya were cancelled, turned back or diverted, including services involving Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, as temporary restrictions around the capital continued to unsettle schedules.
Pegasus cancelled a number of Russia-bound flights and diverted at least one Antalya–Moscow service for safety reasons. Turkish Airlines kept most of its Moscow network in operation but cut some departures and arrivals on the Istanbul–Moscow pairing. The immediate trigger was not a formal closure of Russian airspace, but heightened operational risk around Moscow airports and the knock-on effect on carriers still using the corridor.
The episode underlines the different exposure faced by airlines that continue to operate to Russia. Most European, US and Canadian carriers have avoided Russian airspace since 2022, while Turkish, Gulf and some Asian airlines still serve the market. The latest disruptions also raise the prospect of tighter insurance and underwriting conditions if drone activity continues to affect operations near major Russian airports.