Russian flag carrier Aeroflot has had its membership in the Skyteam airline alliance “temporarily” suspended following President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Aeroflot has been a member of Skyteam since 2006 as part of the alliance’s strategy to expand its presence in the east.
Skyteam was the last major airline alliance to be created at the turn of the millennium. Its founding members were Aeromexico, Air France, Delta Air Lines and Korean Air. Delta had already axed its codeshare deals with Aeroflot back in February.
As part of an alliance, passengers can earn and redeem frequent flyer miles between the various alliance members and gain access to reciprocal benefits. In a statement, Skyteam said it was “working to limit the impact for customers” following Aeroflot’s suspension from the alliance.
A spokesperson for Skyteam said the alliance and Aeroflot had mutually agreed to the airline’s temporary suspension.
A similar announcement was made earlier this month by Russia’s S7 Airlines and the oneworld alliance. The alliance said it didn’t expect the decision to have much impact on passengers because Russian planes are banned from flying to many international destinations where alliance members are based.
In turn, major oneworld alliance members including British Airways and Finnair are barred from entering Russian airspace.
The European Union and the United Kingdom claim Russian airlines pose a safety risk because of Western sanctions on aircraft parts and have placed Aeroflot and S7 Airlines on an ‘Air Safety List’ of banned airlines.
The British government says Russian carriers have been “actively promoting unsafe practices”.
