MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia resumed regular domestic passenger flights to the southern city of Krasnodar on Wednesday, fully reopening a key regional airport that was closed for more than three years due to security concerns linked to the war in Ukraine.
A fully loaded 183-seat Airbus A321 from Moscow operated by Russian flag carrier Aeroflot landed in the city of over 1.5 million people after a flight of about 3-1/2 hours.
That was about 90 minutes longer than flights before the war, as planes now avoid the airspace near the front line in Ukraine and fly via Volgograd and the Black Sea coast.
Russia closed 11 major airports in its southern and western regions, including those in Kursk, Simferopol and Rostov-on-Don, following the start of its military campaign in Ukraine in February 2022.
Krasnodar, almost 1,200 km (750 miles) from Moscow, is the third of these airports to reopen, following Elista in May 2024 and Gelendzhik in July 2025.
Alexey Buyevich, deputy head of Russia’s civil aviation watchdog Rosaviatsiya, said the decision to resume flights was based on an evaluation of the risks.
“We have a working group at Rosaviatsiya that considered all risks, examined flight safety issues and also established safe flight routes,” he said, adding that the final decision was made by the Transport Ministry.
Aeroflot said it will operate up to five flights a day from Moscow, as well as services from six other Russian cities, including Saint-Petersburg.
“We didn’t believe it could happen,” said Maya Tikhomirova, a passenger on Wednesday’s flight who regularly travels between Moscow and Krasnodar. “It’s the first time in three years we got here so easily.”
Dmitry Lokaychuk, a pilot who flew the plane to Krasnodar, said the route had changed significantly due to airspace restrictions, but “thankfully, we found ways to launch flights again”.
Russia’s aviation sector is showing signs of recovery after a sharp decline in international traffic due to Western sanctions and airspace restrictions.
(Reporting by ReutersWriting by Gleb StolyarovEditing by Frances Kerry)
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