Yes it was asked and they have the route indefinitely. They won the bid and they are not losing it. That is fact and not Hearsay! It doesn't matter anyway, once certified they could fly almost anywhere internationally from JFK possible with a 747 if they had to. The reason I bring this up was because another question arise of the relationship between the U.S. And Russian might go south and what then. Fly to another destination! Very simple! They did not lose the JFK to St. Petersburg route though