Russian air-carrier suspends flights due to sanctions

Since Dobrolet was put on the EU sanctions list, the leasing contracts of the Boeing 737 airplanes were cancelled, forcing the company to suspend all operations starting from August 4 12.00 am (GMT + 4:00), a statement released on its website said. Dobrolet started its operations in June 2014 as a subsidiary of Aeroflot, focusing on cheap flights between Moscow and Simferopol - a city on the Crimean peninsula - after Russia occupied Crimea. On 30 July, the EU announced a second phase of sanctions on Russia due to its role in the Ukraine crisis, including travel bans and the freezing of Russian assets in EU countries. The first three companies on the sanctioned companies list were Dobrolet, Russian National Trade Bank and defense system manufacturer, Almaz-Antey.