Airspace Relaxation Aims to Shorten Southern Russia Flight Routes

Airspace Relaxation Plans Echo Through Southern Russia

Russian authorities are considering allowing civilian aircraft to operate in a southern segment of the country’s airspace that was shuttered at the outset of Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine. Sources linked to five Russian airlines indicate that the move is being contemplated and could ease flight routes that previously skirted around restricted zones.

The central question will be addressed at an explanatory meeting scheduled for August 29 with airline operators. The gathering, organized by the State Air Traffic Management Authority, will focus on organizing flights from central Russia to the southern regions while avoiding Kazakhstan’s airspace. This discussion aims to clarify new routing options and how they would be implemented in practice.

If these relaxations are adopted, flight times to the open Sochi airport—and to Turkish destinations currently affected by the release notes—could decrease. For example, the trip from Vnukovo to Sochi might exceed a 20-minute reduction, while the return leg to Moscow could save up to 10 minutes.

One proposal involves removing a 10-kilometer-wide corridor from the flight restriction regime within the FL330-530 altitude band (approximately between 10.05 and 10.65 kilometers). This adjustment would shorten travel times for Moscow-to-Turkey routes as well, according to officials familiar with the plan.

Airlines have begun recalculating navigation scenarios in anticipation of potential changes. Presently, a typical flight to Sochi can take at least four hours, a figure that could be trimmed if the new routing proves viable.

Surge in Pop-up Traffic

Since February 24, the Federal Air Transport Agency has imposed flight restrictions on 11 southern and western Russian cities. The list currently excludes flights to Anapa, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Gelendzhik, Krasnodar, Kursk, Lipetsk, Rostov-on-Don, Simferopol, and Elista. While the initial ban was set to end on March 2, the temporary regime has been extended multiple times, most recently until September 4 at 3:45 Moscow time.

The aviation squeeze has redirected capacity toward southern hubs such as Sochi, Volgograd, Mineralnye Vody, and Stavropol, lifting passenger load at these airports during the peak season.

Earlier, the government allocated 3.1 billion rubles to support the closed-airport network. In mid-August, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin pledged an additional 2.5 billion rubles in state aid. The lion’s share of funding was distributed to Simferopol Airport (436 million rubles), Rostov-on-Don (296.6 million rubles), and Krasnodar (259.2 million rubles), with Anapa receiving 111.8 million rubles. Seven other airports received varying sums, ranging from 4 to 72.9 million rubles depending on the level of lost passenger traffic.

Industry association ATOR reports that airports lost more than eight million passengers over the summer. A Ministry of Transport presentation cited by Vedomosti indicated that airlines bore costs due to the southern airport closures, with cumulative passenger losses reaching roughly 19 million in 2022. Earlier in the spring, carriers could not transport about 3.7 million travelers to southern airports, and the projection for autumn suggested another potential shortfall of around 2.5 million passengers.

Holiday Season Trends

Popular leisure choices this summer included Russian resorts and Turkish destinations, with Sochi seeing a robust turnout. Travel prices to Turkey surged, compounded by disruptions in flight schedules and restrictions on charter services by Russian airlines. A spokesperson from TravelBelka Online Tour observed that ticket prices rose as airlines pared capacity and flight options. The dynamic is partly explained by a shortage of available routes and inflationary pressures that constrained supply at peak travel times.

In the first half of 2022, Ministry of Culture and Tourism figures show Russians visited Turkey about 1.46 million times, a 43.6% decline from the same period in 2019. Projections from ATOR suggested 2022 could see an even higher flow of Russian tourists to Turkey than the previous year, which recorded 4.7 million visits. ATOR’s Sergey Romashkin noted that Krasnodar Territory resorts were expected to regain momentum by the end of the summer season, with a modest increase in tourist traffic. He added that Sochi’s airport had been operating at near full capacity, contributing to a relatively resilient tourist picture for the Kuban region this summer.

Overall, industry observers describe the summer tourism climate in the Kuban as slightly more favorable than in other areas, aided by the continued operation of Sochi Airport and the tentative easing of travel restrictions in some corridors.

[Attribution: official statements from the State Air Traffic Management Authority, the Federal Air Transport Agency, and industry analyses from ATOR and Vedomosti, as referenced in market briefings]