The Mexican airline Interjet said on December 26 that it had to cancel some flights due to mandatory safety inspections of its Russian-made Superjet 100 aircraft.
Russian authorities issued the directive on December 23 after cracks were found in a part on one of the Sukhoi planes. Interjet is among the largest customers for the relatively new Superjet, with more than 20 in its fleet.
Mexico's consumer protection agency says at least 25 flights and more than 680 passengers have been affected.
Russia's own Aeroflot airline, also a major Sukhoi customer, canceled 21 flights scheduled on domestic routes during the busy holiday season on December 24.
The manufacturer Sukhoi is best known as the maker of military jets like those now flying over Syria.
While the groundings are a setback for Russia's first passenger plane model, they also showed the vigilance of Russian aviation regulators in flagging matters of safety.
Russia's precautionary safety checks were announced just days after European regulators certified a long-range version of the Sukhoi Superjet for flights in the European Union.
