Russian carrier to halt flights to Damascus

ISTANBUL

REUTERS photo

Russian airliner Aeroflot has announced that it will indefinitely halt all flights between Moscow and Damascus as of Aug. 6. 
 
A company spokesperson made the statement to the Praym news agency, saying the cancelation was due to economic reasons, daily Hürriyet reported on its website today. 
 
The airliner chose to halt the flights because the income gained from passengers who wanted to fly on the route could not compensate for the plane's fuel costs, the spokesperson said, underlining that the company was not canceling the flights due to security concerns. 
 
Russian aviation sector specialists, however, reportedly said they thought security- and political-related reasons were the primary causes of the cancelation, noting that Aeroflot never suspended flights to Cuba during Soviet times even if the planes flew with only one passenger on board.
 
Political observers reportedly drew attention to the fact that Aeroflot's suspension of flights to a country generally preceded Russia's severing of diplomatic ties with the said nation. 
 
The cancelation of Moscow-Damascus flights could be a signal that Russia is preparing to cut ties with Syria, the report said.