Tanzanian carrier Air Tanzania officially suspended its regular flights on the Moscow — Dar es Salaam route on 4 September. As reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing a statement from the airline, the decision was made on flight safety grounds amid warnings of a threat to civilian aircraft in Russian airspace. The company promised to refund passengers who had purchased tickets for the cancelled flights.

A Short-Lived Route

Direct air service between Moscow and Dar es Salaam had only been launched in July 2026, meaning the regular flights lasted less than two months. The timing of the resumption of flights is currently undetermined. Russian media, in particular the m24.ru portal, note that the possible cancellation of Air Tanzania's flight programme could affect thousands of Russian passengers, for whom this route was one of the few direct options to East Africa.

Context: "Closing the Sky"

The Tanzanian carrier's decision fits into a broader context. Recently, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Russian airspace could become dangerous for civilian aviation due to drone activity, and announced the beginning of the "closing" of Russia's sky. He called on international airlines and insurance companies to take the associated risks into account. Following this statement, according to Russian media reports, foreign carriers began cancelling flights to and from Moscow — in total, roughly thirty cancelled flights were reported.

Reactions from Other Airlines

The Tanzanian company was not the only one to review its routes. Earlier, for flight safety reasons, the Israeli airline El Al suspended flights to the Russian capital. The Indian carrier Air India decided to reroute its flights from the US to India so as to completely avoid Russian airspace. Some Turkish airlines also began cancelling individual flights in the direction of Russia.

Contradictory Data

There are discrepancies in the publications on the topic regarding the wording of who exactly was the first to cancel flights. RBC-Ukraine characterises Air Tanzania in its headline as the "first foreign airline" to cancel flights to Russia after Zelensky's warning. At the same time, the same text and other sources indicate that the Israeli El Al suspended flights to Moscow "earlier," i.e. before the Tanzanian carrier. Thus, the version of the "first" airline depends on the reference point: if one takes the moment of Zelensky's statement as the baseline, Air Tanzania appears as the first carrier to react; if one looks at the overall chronology of suspensions, El Al acted earlier. The differences in figures and in the positioning of the "first" remain unclarified in the primary statements.

What Comes Next

As of 4 September 2026, the exact timing for the resumption of Air Tanzania flights on the Moscow — Dar es Salaam route has not been announced. The carrier limited itself to stating that refunds would be issued to passengers of the cancelled flights. Experts and industry associations, including ATOR, comment on the situation as part of a general trend of foreign airlines reviewing their routes in light of risks in Russian airspace. The dynamics of cancellations and of avoiding Russian airspace will probably continue to grow if the warnings of a threat to civilian aviation persist.