For Russian international tourists, a holiday is often code for going to a warm beach (before 2022 a Russian holiday could also include visiting the old architecturally beautiful cities of Western Europe). Today,

Russian airlines are banned from European
(and US and Canadian) airspace and all of Russia’s long-distance international flights in 2025 (over 5,000 miles) are to tropical destinations.

In 2025, two Russian airlines will operate international 5,000+ mile flights from Russia
: Aeroflot
(SU) and Nordwind Airlines
(N4), while the only other airline operating long-distance flights to Russia is Venezuela’s flag carrier, Conviasa
(V0). All three of these airlines have to contend with Western sanctions
. The aircraft used on these long-distance flights are Boeing 777-200/200ERs, -300ERs, Airbus A350-900s, and Airbus 340s and connect Moscow with Cuba, Bali (Indonesia), and Venezuela.

Conviasa’s flights to Russia

Conviasa only flies to Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport (one of Moscow’s four international airports—the two largest are Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo). It also flies from Venezuela’s capital of Maiquetía “Simón Bolívar” International Airport in Caracas and from Cuba’s José Martí International Airport in Havana.

Airbus A340-642 YV3533 Conviasa takeoff at Vnukovo International Airport_3_2_2162181645

Photo: Telsek | Shutterstock

Covisa’s routes to Russia:

Scheduled flights (Jan 2025)

Aircraft type:

Number of seats:

Caracus to Moscow-Vnukovo:

2

A340

506

Havana to Moscow-Vnukovo:

2

A340

506

Both of these destinations are Russian-friendly and offer tropical beach destinations for Russian holidaymakers. However, these flights are very limited. According to information provided by Cirium (an aviation analytics company), only two flights on each route are scheduled for January 2025, with nothing else scheduled for the rest of the year (through November).

It should also be noted that with the closure of European airspace, the flight to Cuba
and Venezuela
has to detour around European airspace in the High Arctic.

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Aeroflot’s long-distance international flights

Aeroflot operates the Airbus A350-900
and the Boeing 777-300ER
on its long-distance flights. Aeroflot offers a limited number of long-distance flights to Cuba and Indonesia’s Bali.

Aeroflot A350 on ground

Photo: Airbus

All of Aeroflot’s long-distance flights are operated out of Moscow-Sheremetyevo International Airport (the busiest airport in Russia, handling around 50 million passengers annually). The airport has six terminals: four international (although one is under construction), one domestic terminal, and one private aviation terminal. It is the main hub for Aeroflot (as well as its subsidiaries, Rossiya Airlines and Pobeda).

Aeroflot’s 5,000+ mile flights:

Scheduled flights (Jan 2025):

Aircraft type:

Number of seats:

Moscow-Sheremetyevo-Havana (Cuba)

4

Boeing 777-300ER

1,828

Moscow-Sheremetyevo-Varadero (Cuba)

13

Boeing 777-300ER

5,941

Moscow-Sheremetyevo-Bali (Indonesia)

13

Airbus A350-900

4,108

Aeroflot has scheduled flights to two Cuban airports: Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport, serving Varadero, and Havana’s José Martí International Airport. Varadero is the second-busiest airport in Cuba after Havana’s international airport. Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport is a hub for Cuba’s airlines, Cubana de Aviación
(Cuba’s flag carrier) and Aerogaviota (a regional carrier). During Soviet times, it was also a hub for Aeroflot in serving the Latin American region.

Only four flights are scheduled to Havana in January 2025, with another four in February, five in March, four in April, and two in May. After that, there are no scheduled flights to Havana until October, when three are scheduled. However, between nine and fourteen flights are scheduled every month for 2025 to Cuba’s Varadero airport.

Aeroflot Boeing 777-300ER Taking Off At Sunset

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Aeroflot’s other long-distance destination is Denpasar International Airport on the tropical island of Bali in Indonesia (it is also Indonesia’s second-busiest airport). Aeroflot is scheduled to operate 13 monthly flights to Bali throughout the year.

Nordwind Airlines

Nordwind Airlines is a Russian leisure airline and also uses Moscow-Sheremetyevo as its main hub. Its wide-body fleet is made up of two Boeing 777-200ERs and two Boeing 777-300ERs. Many of its flights are chartered (so they might not appear in the list of scheduled flights). Also, not appearing in the table below is a single Nordwind flight from Venezuela’s Santiago Mariño Caribbean International Airport to Moscow (it is an airport on Venezuela’s Isla Margarita—another tropical beach destination).

Nordwind Airlines’ 5,000+ mile destinations:

Scheduled flights (Jan-2025):

Aircraft type:

Number of seats:

Moscow-Sheremetyevo-Cayo Coco (Cuba)

5

Boeing 777-200ER

1,385

Moscow-Sheremetyevo-Varadero (Cuba)

10

Boeing 777-200ER/-300ER

2,980

In keeping with the Caribbean theme for Russian long-distance flights, one of Nordwinds’ destinations is at Jardines del Rey Airport on the island of Cayo Coco in Cuba (many of the international Cayo Coco tourists are Canadian). The island is another tropical beach destination, and the airport has been developed to better serve tourists arriving on the island. Nordwind is scheduled to operate a limited number of flights to Cayo Coco throughout 2025.

Nordwind’s only other 5,000+ destination is Cuba’s Varadero (it operates both its Boeing 777-300ERs and Boeing 777-200ERs on this route). These flights are also scheduled to operate all through 2025.

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It’s not easy being a sanctioned carrier

Conviasa is sanctioned by the United States and has received

a number of retired A340s leased from Iran’s Mahan Air
. Mahan Air obtained these old aircraft on the black market through shell companies. The ostensible new owner and destination is often in a third country, but the real owner and destination is in Iran. For example, four A340s recently took off from South Africa’s Johannesburg International Airport bound for Uzbekistan (they landed in Iran’s capital of Tehran instead).

Conviasa A340 landing

Photo: JetKat | Shutterstock

Conviasa
is very limited where it can fly these jets. They are liable to be seized and destroyed by the United States
. In 2022, a Boeing 747 leased by Conviasa’s cargo subsidiary, Emtrasur Cargo, from Mahan Air was seized in Argentina at the request of the United States. 18 months later, it was flown to the United States, where it was promptly scrapped. In 2024, the US seized a Dassault Falcon 900EX aircraft in the Dominican Republic owned and operated by Nicolás Maduro Moros (the de facto president of Venezuela).

When aviation sanctions were first imposed on Russia in 2022, many of the leased aircraft it operated were quickly seized. Perhaps the most dramatic example was

the Russian charter airline Royal Flight, which lost 11 of its 13 aircraft
(the company then collapsed). Another extreme example was Azur Air
, which lost 11 of its 23 aircraft (it managed to survive).

One leased Aeroflot-operated Airbus A320-200 was detained at Munich Airport for a couple of years. Eventually,

it had to pay a half-million-dollar parking fee before being released to its new operator
. In early January 2024,

Russia placed a ban on 27 of its aircraft from flying to Egypt for fear of being seized
.

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Essentially, all passenger aircraft in production today use Western engines and other vital components.

When the A340 trumps the A350

Venezuela’s Conviasa flies the old quad-engined A340 to Russia (the A340 has been out of production since 2012). The A340 is a favored aircraft by sanctioned countries like Iran and Venezuela precisely because it’s old. Being old means that there are plenty of spare parts floating around the world and plenty of airframes being retired that can then be cannibalized for parts on the black market. Iran
has become something of an expert in busting sanctions. Although this has limitations, while Iran’s commercial fleet exits, it is still old, decrepit, inefficient, and essentially duck-taped together by smuggled components (e.g., Iran’s flag carrier, Iran Air
, only has around 17 aircraft operational at any one time).

Mahan Air Airbus A340-600

Photo: Santi Rodriguez | Shutterstock

Meanwhile, Russia’s flag carrier, Aeroflot, operates the new A350-900. While the aircraft is a massive improvement over the older A340, it is not optimal for a sanctioned country like Russia to operate. The aircraft is new, more complicated, exists in smaller numbers, and parts are much more difficult to obtain through non-official channels (like cannibalized airframes). The aircraft has only been in service since 2015, and none have been retired. It is unclear how long Russia can keep its A350s flying.

This is a similar issue facing Russia’s fleet of A320neos/A321neos. These aircraft come with the new (and efficient but complicated) CFM International LEAP engines.

Russia is having difficulty servicing these engines, and around half its fleet is now grounded
. A quarter are reportedly grounded to preserve their remaining engine lives, while the other quarter is not expected to fly again.

Boeing 737 MAX CFM International LEAP-1B engine

Photo: Wirestock Creators | Shutterstock

By contrast, the Boeing 777
is much easier for Russia to maintain. Some 1,700 Boeing 777s have been produced, and it has been in production since 1993. This means it is comparatively easier for Russia to source the parts it needs on the black market.

Where Russians long to get away

While Russian airlines operate many other international flights to holiday destinations closer to Russia, these long-distance international flights have one thing in common: the preferred destinations of Russians (tropical beaches). Secondly, they highlight how Russian airlines are no longer welcome or feel safe operating in much of the world. Russia’s isolation has forced it to fall back on other sanctioned countries like Venezuela and Cuba. Separately, also sanctioned Iran and

North Korea are two of the last countries willing to purchase Russian fighter jets
.

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