Russian Flights Return To The United States And 7 More Countries

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Russian authorities announced yesterday that flights would be allowed to resume between Russia and eight countries. This policy is now in effect as the start date was announced as June 28th. The United States, Italy, Ireland, and five other countries will have air connectivity restored with Russia.

The Airbus A350 is Aeroflot’s newest long-haul widebody. It is using the type on its Moscow-Miami service. Photo: Airbus

Air connectivity restored to eight countries

Effective as of yesterday, Russia has formally resumed flights with eight countries, which are as follows:

  • The United States
  • Italy
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Jordan
  • Ireland
  • Cyprus
  • North Macedonia

According to Vestnik Kavkaza, this will is taking place on a reciprocal basis, which notes that services were suspended with these countries last year due to the global health crisis.

Services were canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19. Photo: Airbus

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What cities will benefit from relaxed restrictions?

While the source notes that airlines yesterday had already announced flight resumptions to Italy, Bulgaria, and Cyprus, we notice that more flights are also available.

Indeed, examining Aeroflot’s future scheduled flights on FlightRadar24.com, we can see that services from Moscow (SVO) to New York (JFK), Los Angeles (LAX), and Miami (MIA) are already scheduled. Just to confirm that these aren’t cargo-only flights, Simple Flying checked Aeroflot’s website and booking engine, which has these flights available for purchase. Sources such as eTurboNews have noted that flights from Moscow to Washington will also be opened.

Aeroflot will operate the Boeing 777-300ER to Los Angeles and New York but fly the A350-900 to Miami. Photo: GCMap.com

When it comes to the specifics of other countries, these are the reported routes and frequencies:

  • Moscow to Brussels (Belgium): Four times a week
  • Moscow to Dublin (Ireland): Two flights weekly
  • Moscow to Rome and Milan (Italy): Two flights weekly
  • Moscow to Venice and Naples (Italy): Four flights weekly
  • Moscow to Larnaca (Cyprus): Four flights weekly
  • Moscow to Paphos (Cyprus): Three flights weekly
  • Moscow to Sofia, Varna, Burgas (Bulgaria): Four weekly flights

Other destinations to see increased frequencies

The Russian government has also agreed to an increase of flights to 11 destinations, which are as follows:

  • Vienna (Austria)
  • Baku (Azerbaijan)
  • Yerevan (Armenia)
  • Doha (Qatar)
  • Belgrade (Serbia)
  • Helsinki (Finland)
  • Zurich and Geneva (Switzerland)
  • Pula, Split, and Dubrovnik (Croatia)

Greece will see a huge boost in flights with increased service for Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion, Corfu, and Rhodes.

Is it safe to open up?

With Russia opening back up to the world, it looks like its citizens and residents will be able to enjoy a summer abroad while welcoming travelers from other parts of the world. But is this a safe decision?

While many places in the world are seeing falling COVID rates due to vaccination rollouts, Russia is currently experiencing an uptick in new daily case counts. According to Worldometers, cases in Russia began to climb in the first week of June, with the country now very much in the middle of a third wave. Russia is now seeing new daily case counts as high as 21,000.

Given the COVID situation in Russia, do you think it’s safe to resume travel to and from the country? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment.



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