Where can Russians fly to/from now?
Mar 13, 2022, 11:10 pm
#1
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Where can Russians fly to/from now?
Aeroflot has cancelled all it's foreign flights, well, except for Belarus. So what about other airlines -- what airlines are still flying to/from Russia?
There are plenty of Russians who were vacationing around the world when the war, um, "special operation"...cough cough... started. What are their options for getting back to Putinland? Today I read an article that said there were thousands of Russians stuck in Thailand, with flights home cancelled, credit cards no longer working, running out of cash and options (Cashless and flightless, Russian tourists stuck in Thailand). I'm told a lot of Thais would love to get rid of them, especially now that they're out of money (I'd suggest sending them to China, but they didn't ask me).
Asking for a friend. Well, not a good friend.
There are plenty of Russians who were vacationing around the world when the war, um, "special operation"...cough cough... started. What are their options for getting back to Putinland? Today I read an article that said there were thousands of Russians stuck in Thailand, with flights home cancelled, credit cards no longer working, running out of cash and options (Cashless and flightless, Russian tourists stuck in Thailand). I'm told a lot of Thais would love to get rid of them, especially now that they're out of money (I'd suggest sending them to China, but they didn't ask me).
Asking for a friend. Well, not a good friend.
Mar 14, 2022, 3:38 am
#2
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Istanbul and Belgrade serve as a main hub for travel between Russia and EU, with Istanbul probably being useful for other destinations as well thanks to TK's network. However, the capacity on routes to/from Russia is well below the demand, so availability is scarce and tickets are quite expensive.
Mar 14, 2022, 9:51 am
#3
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Thanks. I assume it's TK and Air Serbia flying those routes (in/out of Russia via Istanbul and Belgrade), no?
I know Serbia is still friendly with the Russkies. Turkey's relationship, as a NATO member (and supplier of weapons to Ukraine), is a lot more, um, complicated.
No flights at all going to/from the Russian far east? I know there are no flights to/from China (that's all about China's "zero COVID policy" rather than any chill between Moscow and Beijing, that ain't happening). Maybe a Mongolia connection? North Korea? It's certainly a long, long way from Vladivostok to anywhere, especially if you have to first route through Istanbul or Belgrade...
I know Serbia is still friendly with the Russkies. Turkey's relationship, as a NATO member (and supplier of weapons to Ukraine), is a lot more, um, complicated.
No flights at all going to/from the Russian far east? I know there are no flights to/from China (that's all about China's "zero COVID policy" rather than any chill between Moscow and Beijing, that ain't happening). Maybe a Mongolia connection? North Korea? It's certainly a long, long way from Vladivostok to anywhere, especially if you have to first route through Istanbul or Belgrade...
Mar 14, 2022, 4:35 pm
#5
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Looks like Emirates is flying 2 x a380 daily DXB to Moscow (DME) and another 777 daily to St. Petersburg (LED). Qatar looks to be flying one 787-8 daily DOH to Moscow (SVO) and also a 787-8 4 times weekly to LED. So the Gulf carriers still have significant capacity to Russia.
Mar 14, 2022, 10:00 pm
#6
Join Date: Oct 2014
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Plenty of availability, better if the Russia-based traveler is able to find someone outside Russia to book the airfare given the dwindling Ruble value on the market.
I paid $210 for a one way DME-SHJ on AirArabia a couple of days ago to get a friend out of there. For folks headed to Europe Serbia is the least painful option but Istanbul isn't too shabby minus the big detour, Erevan is also an alternative with daily flights to western Europe.
Cairo/Bahrain/Beijing/Doha/Dubai/Sharjah/AbuDhabi all have almost dailies to Russia on wide bodies.
I paid $210 for a one way DME-SHJ on AirArabia a couple of days ago to get a friend out of there. For folks headed to Europe Serbia is the least painful option but Istanbul isn't too shabby minus the big detour, Erevan is also an alternative with daily flights to western Europe.
Cairo/Bahrain/Beijing/Doha/Dubai/Sharjah/AbuDhabi all have almost dailies to Russia on wide bodies.
Mar 16, 2022, 9:48 am
#7
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India, China, UAE, Egypt, Belarussia, Qatar, Uzbekistan, Serbia, Armenia, Turkey, still provide service to/from Moscow with passenger flights.
Mar 17, 2022, 9:01 am
#9
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Nov 2, 2022, 3:52 am
#10
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
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Nov 7, 2022, 8:16 pm
#11
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 11,539
Things are really going back to normal for Russians seeking some winter sun. Quite a few holiday destinations popular for winter have re-opened their arms to Russian tourists:
MLE
DEL
HKT (2x daily!)
SEZ
BKK (10x a week)
CMB
SSH
HRG
MLE
DEL
HKT (2x daily!)
SEZ
BKK (10x a week)
CMB
SSH
HRG
Feb 13, 2023, 11:03 pm
#13
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 120
What do you rate the chance of Singapore airlines, JAL, Korean Air, China Eastern, Thai Airways and Vietnam airlines resuming flights to Moscow in the near future?. All those airlines were flying to Russia in 2019, right now the only east asian carriers flying to Moscow are Air Chiina, China Southern and Hainan airlines (at low frequency).
Feb 14, 2023, 2:40 am
#14
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What do you rate the chance of Singapore airlines, JAL, Korean Air, China Eastern, Thai Airways and Vietnam airlines resuming flights to Moscow in the near future?. All those airlines were flying to Russia in 2019, right now the only east asian carriers flying to Moscow are Air Chiina, China Southern and Hainan airlines (at low frequency).
Feb 14, 2023, 4:37 am
#15
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 120
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/...ine-war-a80181,
Actually SQ, KE and JAL, TG, and VN are avoiding Russian airspace.
Last edited by NewbieRunner; Feb 28, 2023 at 12:04 pm Reason: Merged consecutive posts by same member
