Air India on Thursday cancelled its twice-a-week flight from Delhi to Moscow after being unable to secure insurance coverage due to high threat perceptions amid Russia and Ukraine war. The Russian embassy said Air India has stopped selling tickets on the Delhi-Moscow-Delhi route and the prospects for the resumption of the services are uncertain. Confirming the cancellation, an Air India spokesperson denied commenting on the reason for the cancellation.

The Air India's Delhi-Moscow flight that was scheduled to operate on Thursday stands cancelled, the sources said. They stated that the flight was cancelled as it was feared that the insurance may not be valid in Russian skies. Air India has been operating Delhi-Moscow flights twice a week. The airline is among those that continue to use Russian airspace following the country's attack on Ukraine. India has not banned Russian airlines from its airspace.

Flight insurance is generally provided by companies based out of western countries. Western countries banned all Russian airlines from their airspace after Russia started a war against Ukraine on February 24.

Earlier, the Russian embassy said Air India has stopped selling tickets on the Delhi-Moscow-Delhi route and the prospects for the resumption of the services are uncertain. Earlier this week, Russia said it plans to end COVID-19 restrictions on flights to and from 52 "friendly countries" after Saturday. These include those that have not joined the latest wave of Western sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has closed its airspace to airlines from 36 countries, including all 27 members of the European Union, in response to Ukraine-related sanctions targeting its aviation sector.