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Aeroflot Halts In-Flight Media Streaming After Foreign Suppliers' Withdrawal

Sophia Sandurskaya / Moskva News Agency

Russia's flagship airline Aeroflot said Thursday that it is no longer offering in-flight film, television and music streaming to passengers following Western sanctions and business withdrawals over the Kremlin’s military incursion in Ukraine.

In a statement on its official Telegram channel, Aeroflot said foreign companies had stopped providing streaming services to the airline. 

Aeroflot said the disruption was “temporary” and encouraged passengers to do “a digital detox,” “take a nap” or “read a book” during flights.

The company also added it was working “on a domestic solution.”

Russia’s airline sector, including Aeroflot, was one of the first to be affected by the economic fallout and Western sanctions from the war in Ukraine.

Aeroflot was forced to suspend all flights abroad after the European Union and the United Kingdom banned Russian airlines from their airspace.

And Western sanctions have banned the sale of spare aircraft parts and technology to Russia.

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