In brief
- Ukraine says Russian airspace isn't safe for civilian aircraft as Ukrainian forces expand their long-range drone campaign.
- Around 60 foreign carriers still fly over Russia, led by Chinese and Gulf airlines using routings closed to Western competitors.
Russian airspace has been closed to Australian, European and North American airlines for more than four years, but it has not been empty.
Around 60 foreign carriers still operate scheduled services to Russian airports, and a larger number cross the country without landing, taking the shortest route between Europe and Asia while Western competitors detour south.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told all of them to reconsider, warning that "Russian airspace is becoming completely unsafe" as Ukraine expands its long-range drone campaign.
Passengers from Australian airports cannot fly to Russia directly, and Qantas has avoided the airspace since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. But those connecting through China's Guangzhou or Shanghai airports, or India's Delhi airport, may still spend part of their journey over Russian territory because the carriers operating those sectors retain access.
An independent Russian outlet reported that 27 foreign airlines cancelled flights to Moscow within a day of Zelenskyy's warning. Several of those carriers offered explanations that did not reference the Ukrainian president's announcement, while others were still overflying as normal.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Who's still flying?
The airlines with access to airspace come almost entirely from countries that have not sanctioned Russia.
Russia closed its own skies in 2022 to more than 35 countries and territories, a list that included all 27 European Union member states, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand.
Chinese carriers form the largest group still flying. Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, Hainan Airlines, Xiamen Air and Beijing Capital Airlines all use Russian airspace, principally to reach western Europe.
British Airways' London–Beijing service is around 1,600km longer than its Chinese competitors' equivalent, adding almost two hours.
Gulf carriers have become Russia's main link to the wider world. Emirates, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways and flydubai all serve Russian cities, connecting Moscow and St Petersburg to hundreds of destinations — including Australia — through their hubs.
Emirates flies to Moscow and routes its Dubai–US West Coast services along a polar track over northern Russia. Air India operates no Russian services but crosses the country on every flight to the US and Canada.
Four European carriers retain access, all from countries maintaining working relations with Russia: Turkish Airlines, which serves seven Russian airports; Pegasus; Belarus' Belavia; and Air Serbia, which flies to Moscow, St Petersburg, Kazan and Sochi.
Qantas rerouted its Darwin–London flights south in February 2022, a decision it described at the time as precautionary rather than required, adding roughly an hour in each direction.
Ukraine's warning
Zelenskyy was explicit that Ukraine was not threatening civilian aircraft.
His argument concerned scale: Ukrainian drones now reach Moscow, St Petersburg and targets more than 2,000km from the border in numbers airlines and their insurers would have to account for.
The hazard he described is Russian air defence fire responding to them. Russia's defence ministry said its air defences destroyed 130 drones between 8pm Moscow time last Tuesday and 8am the following morning (3am to 3pm Wednesday AEST), a window in which Moscow's Vnukovo and Domodedovo airports were both placed under temporary restrictions.
The disruption ran for a second consecutive night. Flight-tracking service Flightradar24 recorded 21 cancellations and 235 delays at Sheremetyevo, and 22 cancellations and 94 delays at Vnukovo.
By Thursday, restrictions had extended to airports in Sochi, Gelendzhik, Penza, Saratov, Yaroslavl, and Nizhny Novgorod, as well as all four Moscow airports.
Ukraine formalised the warning on Thursday. Its foreign minister Andrii Sybiha notified the International Civil Aviation Organization that Russian airspace was unsafe for civil aviation, while infrastructure minister Mykola Kalashnyk asked the agency to recommend member states halt civil flights over Russia — a step the UN body can urge but cannot impose.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called the warning a declaration of "state terrorism", speaking to reporters after a two-day summit in Kyrgyzstan. He said that if such "tragedies" occurred, Russia would find a way to respond.
Rosaviatsiya, Russia's federal air transport agency, said on Wednesday that Ukraine's notice to air missions was "illegitimate" and carried no legal force, and that Russian airports were operating as usual.
Airlines weigh the risk
Some carriers moved regardless. Pegasus turned three Moscow-bound aircraft back mid-flight last Wednesday and cancelled dozens of services; the independent Russian outlet Agentstvo counted 27 foreign airlines cancelling Moscow flights within a day, among them Turkish Airlines and flydubai.
The airlines have not linked those decisions to the warning. Turkish Airlines attributed its cancellations to fleet consolidation, replacing two narrow-body aircraft with a single wide-body.
Pegasus' corporate website cited technical and operational reasons. No blanket closure was issued by aviation authorities in Russia, Türkiye or the UAE.
Air Tanzania suspended its Dar es Salaam–Moscow service on Friday, the first international carrier to halt a Russian route after the warning, citing a routine risk assessment. It reversed the decision within a day. Flights have since resumed.
Flydubai said it was monitoring the situation and adjusting schedules and routings where necessary, warning that delays and diversions remained possible. Emirates, Etihad and Air Arabia did not comment.
Flightradar24 tracking showed Emirates and Turkish Airlines operating over Russia as normal last Thursday.
European regulators have carried a standing advisory since January 2025, recommending operators avoid Russian airspace west of 60 degrees east at all altitudes. It was revised on 24 July this year and runs to 31 January 2027. It carries no force for a carrier flying between its own country and Russia.
Concerns about the safety of civilian aviation in the region are long-standing. MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine in July 2014, killing all 298 people on board, 38 of them Australians or residents of Australia.
On 25 December 2024, Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 was damaged on approach to Grozny and crash-landed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 aboard; Azerbaijan's president attributed the damage to Russian ground fire, which Moscow denied.
For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter.
