Summary

  • Aeroflot, Russia’s largest airline, operates over 100 destinations worldwide, with Turkey being its top international destination.
  • Despite sanctions, Aeroflot maintains busy routes to Armenia, Belarus, and other countries, offering tens of thousands of monthly seats.
  • Aeroflot’s fleet consists of 171 aircraft, with plans to purchase 339 domestically produced aircraft by 2030.

The largest airline in Russia has been in operation for over 100 years. Founded in 1923, the airline operates scheduled flights to more than 100 destinations worldwide, using its healthy modern narrowbody and widebody fleet. In 2022, the airline had to significantly cut down on the number of destinations due to sanctions on Russian airlines as a result of the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Aeroflot Airlines currently operates scheduled services to a handful of international destinations, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Cuba, Egypt, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

According to Aeroflot,

  • The airline operates five types of aircraft configured in two or three travel classes.
  • As of May, Aeroflot’s fleet consists of 171 aircraft, including 41 widebody and 130 narrow-body medium-range aircraft.
  • Aeroflot Group’s fleet consists of 349 aircraft, including 59 widebody, 212 narrowbody medium-range, and 78 domestic regional Superjet 100 aircraft.
 Boeing 777-300ER VQ-BQF Aeroflot takeoff at Sheremetyevo International Airport

“In September 2022, Aeroflot PJSC and United Aircraft Corporation PJSC signed an agreement of intent for the purchase of 339 domestically produced aircraft. Under the agreement, Aeroflot Group will receive 210 MC-21, 89 SJ-100 and 40 Tu-214 aircraft between until 2030.”

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Aeroflot’s top international routes

Despite sanctions at numerous international destinations, Aeroflot keeps some of these routes busy by providing tens of thousands of seats in each direction. Cirium, an aviation analytics company, shows that the Russian carrier offered six international routes in July with over 28,000 roundtrip seats. Here are the top three international routes.

Origin Destination Number of round-trip flights in July Number of round-trip seats in July Available Seat Miles (ASM) in July
Moscow, Russia (SVO) Antalya, Turkey (AYT) 383 110,628 150 million
Moscow, Russia (SVO) Istanbul, Turkey (IST) 372 75,492 82 million
Moscow, Russia (SVO) Yerevan, Armenia (EVN) 310 61,278 70 million

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Moscow (SVO) to Turkey (AYT and IST)

Turkey remains Aeroflot’s top international destination, with the two Turkish airports (AYT and IST) receiving the most roundtrip seats from Moscow (SVO). Aeroflot operated 383 flights in July, offering 110,628 roundtrip seats. On a given day in July, the airline operates up to seven flights on the 4 hours 45 minutes route between SVO and AYT.

Aeroflot uses a variety of narrowbody and widebody jets on the route, including Airbus A321neo, A300-300, A350-900, Boeing 737-800, and 777-300ER. Aeroflot competes with Turkish leisure airline Southwind Airlines, which operates multiple flights daily on the corridor.

Aeroflot Boeing 777-300ER Inflight

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

The largest and busiest airport in Turkey, IST, sees as many as six rotations a day from Aeroflot. The airline will operate 372 flights in July, offering nearly 76,500 seats. Aeroflot mostly uses its narrowbody Airbus A321 and Boeing 737-800 fleet on the route, with some flights seeing Boeing 777-300ERs. Surprisingly enough, this route has no competition, as Aeroflot is the only airline connecting Moscow SVO to Istanbul (IST).

Despite the sanctions imposed in many parts of the world, leisure travelers from Russia find it easier to travel to Turkey and Armenia, among other places, for vacation.

Related

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Moscow (SVO) to/from Yerevan, Armenia (EVN)

The third international route with the most seats in Yerevan, Armenia, with 310 round-trip flights in July, offering 61,278 seats. Aeroflot has up to five daily flights, so it is another busy flight corridor. Armenian Airlines offers up to two daily flights on this route using its Airbus A321 aircraft. Another Armenian carrier, Shirak Avia, operates a once-daily flight on the route using its Boeing 737-500 fleet.

aeroflot a350

Photo: aappp | Shutterstock

The other three

Origin Destination Number of round-trip flights in July Number of round-trip seats in July Available Seat Miles (ASM) in July
Moscow, Russia (SVO) Minsk, Belarus (MSQ) 372 55,436 22 million
Moscow, Russia (SVO) Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (FRU) 160 29,514 55 million
Moscow, Russia (SVO) Simal, Azerbaijan (GYD) 186 29,428 36 million

Aeroflot operates 372 roundtrip flights to Minsk, Belarus, offering nearly 30,000 flights. Amounting to 36 million ASM, Aeroflot primarily operates the Airbus A320 fleet on the 90-minute flight in each direction. Bishkek (FRU) and Simal (GYD) also offer nearly 30,000 seats each on the route, making it some of Aeroflot’s busiest international flights.

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What are your thoughts on the top international routes by Aeroflot Airlines? Have you traveled on any of these routes? Share your experience in the comments section.

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