DGCA asks Russian airlines to stop flying to India

New Delhi, May 15 (UNI) The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) today asked Russian airlines Aeroflot and Transco to stop flying to Indian destinations.

Sources said the move stems from Russian authorities refraining Air India and Jet Airways from overflying their territory.

Aeroflot, which already operates flights to Delhi and Mumbai from Moscow, had recently planned to start flights to other Indian cities as well. The cities on the airline's radar were Kolkata, Bangalore, Amritsar and Ahmedabad.

It is not clear what will happen to those plans now. The airline also wanted to increase the number of weekly flights to the two gateway airports of Delhi and Mumbai.

Recently, the DGCA asked Malaysian Airlines to explain why a similar ban should not be imposed on it as AI Express and Air Sahara have been experiencing difficulties in the southeast Asian country.

India is awaiting the response from Malaysian authorities, sources said.

UNI