Kazakhstan’s Qazaq Air suspends flights to Novosibirsk, Russia

Kazakhstan’s Qazaq Air has been forced to suspend flights to Russia’s Novosibirsk, as reported on Sunday, October 30.

Kazakhstan’s airline Qazaq Air has announced the suspension of flights to Novosibirsk in Russia due to the “failure to issue relevant permits from the Russian aviation authorities.”

“Qazaq Air announces the cancellation of the Astana – Novosibirsk flight on October 30, 2022, as well as the temporary suspension of flights on the routes: Astana – Novosibirsk, Ust-Kamenogorsk – Novosibirsk in connection with the failure to issue a permit of the aviation authorities of the Russian Federation to perform international regular flights on these directions,” the airline said.

Passengers are offered a full refund of the ticket price, as reported by RIA.

“We apologise for the inconvenience caused. We will keep all passengers informed of further possible changes in the schedule. Qazaq Air complies with all requirements to ensure flight safety in accordance with Kazakh and international standards,” the statement said.

The same issue happened back in March.

Qazaq Air’s press service said at the time: “Qazaq Air has been notified about the failure to provide insurance coverage in Russia and its airspace. Considering this, the airline is not able to operate flights to Russia until the issue of insurance coverage is resolved.”

The news comes after Norway officially suspended the agreement on a simplified visa regime with Russia.

“Norway’s visa facilitation agreement with Russia (external website) has been temporarily suspended from September 22, 2022,” a statement from the Directorate of Immigration of Norway (UDI) read at the time.

On Thursday, September 22, the UDI added: “This means that ordinary rules on documentation, multiple-entry visas, fees and processing time also apply to Russian citizens.

“The simplified rules in the visa facilitation agreement will not apply as long as the agreement is cancelled.

“Even if you are granted a visitor visa or a residence permit, it may be difficult for you to travel to Norway due to cancelled flights.

“UDI cannot help you travel to Norway.”

The UDI noted that if Russians are in Norway with a visa or temporary residence permit that expires, “the EU and Norway have closed the airspace to Russian planes, meaning that many flights to Russia will be cancelled.

It said: “If you have a residence permit or a visitor visa that is expiring, you may have problems returning home due to cancelled flights.

“You must take care of the documentation showing that you have attempted to return home.

“You can document this with your flight ticket and confirmations from the airline that the flight has been cancelled.

“You must return home as soon as possible, and find alternative ways to return home if you cannot fly.”

Thank you for taking the time to read this article, do remember to come back and check The Euro Weekly News website for all your up-to-date local and international news stories and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.