Russians will see a reduction in the number of direct international flights
Due to sanctions, drone attacks, fuel shortages, and the war in the Middle East, Russians will have fewer direct international flights available. In the summer of 2026, a maximum of 32 countries will be accessible without layovers—a quarter fewer than in the winter (43) and three times fewer than in the late Soviet era, according to ATOR’s calculations. Flights to Algeria and the Seychelles have already been canceled, and there will be no direct flights to Cuba or Venezuela this summer.
This is reported by Russian media.
Due to hostilities in the Middle East, direct flights to Kuwait, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia have been suspended. If flights to Saudi Arabia are not resumed, the list of summer destinations will consist of approximately 32 countries (including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Qatar, China, Kyrgyzstan, the Maldives, Morocco, Mongolia, the UAE, Oman, Serbia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Ethiopia, and others).
At the same time, some of these destinations are off-limits for package tours: starting in March 2026, sales of tours to Israel, Iran, Qatar, the UAE, Oman, and Saudi Arabia will be prohibited; there is virtually no demand for Afghanistan and Iraq. Thus, no more than a dozen or so countries remain for mass tourism via direct flights.
After the war against Ukraine began, the EU, the UK, the US, and other countries closed their airspace to Russian airlines. As a result, Russia lost direct connections with nearly 40 countries, and travel now often requires layovers. Russia’s current network of international flights is already significantly smaller than it was in the late Soviet era, when there were up to a hundred direct routes.
Russia announced the resumptionof operations at 13 airports following extensive restrictions.
Russia temporarily suspended operations at 13 airports following a drone attack on the administrative building of the Southern Russia Air Navigation branch.
On the night of May 8, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin posted a series of messages on the Telegram social network. He documented the aftermath of the attack by Ukrainian drones.
The Lukoil-Permnaftorgsintez oil refinery in Perm came under attack again on May 8. This is the third attack in recent days on a strategic facility of the Russian oil refining industry, located more than 1,500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
