By Elena Teslova
MOSCOW (AA) - FlyDubai, a United Arab Emirates-based budget airline, has suspended flights to two Russian cities following this week's Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash in Kazakhstan, the Association of Russian Tour Operators said on Friday.
The suspension, effective from this Saturday to Jan. 5, affects over 2,000 passengers, 90% of whom are clients of tour operators, the group said in a statement.
Tour operators are working to address the disruption, it added.
Earlier in the day, Kazakh airline Qazaq Air announced temporary suspension of flights between Astana and Yekaterinburg, citing security concerns.
Azerbaijan Airlines also extended the list of Russian cities where it suspended flights until the end of the crash investigation.
An Azerbaijan Airlines flight on Wednesday traveling from Baku to the city of Grozny in Russia’s Chechen Republic went down near Aktau, located on the Caspian Sea coast, with 67 people onboard.
Kazakh officials said 38 people were killed in the crash while 29 survived.