KLM will not fly to Russia for the next seven days. In addition, the airline avoids Russian airspace on routes to Asia. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has today returned two planes and canceled four flights due to sanctions imposed by Europe on Russia.
This afternoon, KLM reversed two flights to the Russian capital Moscow and to Saint Petersburg over Russia and return to Schiphol. The plane that was on its way to Moscow had to make an extra stop in Copenhagen.
The reason for the diversions is European sanctions that temporarily prohibit airlines from transporting spare parts for aircraft to Russia. This also means that if a KLM plane breaks down in Russia, it is no longer possible to send parts.
KLM also wants to prevent flights to Asia from having to make an unscheduled stopover in Russia and therefore prefers to ground them at Schiphol. As a result, flights to Japan and South Korea were canceled today. KLM will not fly to and over Russia for the next seven days.
Aeroflot
For the time being, passengers can no longer fly with a KLM ticket from Schiphol with the Russian airline Aeroflot. KLM and Aeroflot are partners and part of the Skyteam alliance, a partnership of 19 airlines. According to a spokesperson for KLM, the measure applies to new bookings.
Delta Air Lines, which is also a member of Skyteam, has a large base at Schiphol and is an important partner of KLM, had already suspended its cooperation with Aeroflot on Friday.