(BTN) — On Oct. 27, Ukraine International Airlines will end service between Kyiv and Almaty, citing excessive costs from Russia’s prohibition of Ukrainian carrier use of Russian airspace. UIA ended service to Kazakhstan capital Nur-Sultan (ex Astana), last December.

Bypassing Russian airspace has added more than an hour to the flight time and has made the flight unprofitable, according to the carrier.

“This was a forced and logical decision”, UIA CEO Yevhenii Dykhne said. “Losses of more than $7 mln do not allow us to continue operating this loss-making flight.”

The carrier estimates it has carried nearly 530,000 passengers on the Kyiv-Almaty route since 2013. It will cover the route via a codeshare with Kazakh carrier Air Astana. Doing so “disrupts the UIA network model” but is necessary to regain profitability, according to the carrier.