What are subsidized flights and how to buy them in 2026

For more than ten years, Russia has been operating a state program of subsidizing air transportation, aimed at supporting interregional routes and stimulating domestic tourism. Part of the ticket price is compensated from the budget, which makes flights more affordable for millions of citizens. For more information about how the discounted flight program works, who can use it, and when ticket sales for 2026 will open, see the Izvestia article.

What are subsidized flights?

Subsidized air tickets are tickets for domestic flights, part of the cost of which is reimbursed by the state. Thanks to this support, the final price for the passenger becomes significantly lower than the market price. Most often, the subsidy is 30-50%, but some entities reimburse 70 and even 95% of the cost.

The key goal of the program is to make air travel accessible to residents of different parts of Russia, especially from remote regions, as well as to promote the development of regional communications.

Moreover, tickets to and from Moscow are usually not included in the list of subsidized tickets due to high passenger traffic and competition. Also, the program does not apply to flights abroad, operating exclusively on domestic routes.

The list of destinations and airlines is set annually by the Federal Air Transport Agency. In 2025, about 300 subsidized routes were approved, including new ones, and about 15 air carriers, which included Aeroflot, Ural Airlines, S7, Yakutia, Nordstar, YAMAL, Nordwind, Smartavia, Alrosa, Utair, RedWings, Izhavia,Severstal and others.

Who can buy a discounted ticket

All Russian citizens, regardless of age and place of residence, can purchase subsidized tickets if they have permanent registration in the territory of the Russian Federation. Discounted tickets are not sold to citizens with temporary registration.

Tickets are available on a general basis, as well as regular ones. However, their number is limited. The state subsidizes no more than four flights in one direction. This is equivalent to two round trips. Other combinations are also possible, such as four one-way flights.

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What are the most effective mechanisms for subsidizing air transportation?

Some tickets are available only for privileged categories of citizens if there are supporting documents. These include:

• youth under 23 years of age;
• women over 55 years old and men over 60 years old;
• adults with group I disabilities and accompanying persons;
• disabled people from childhood of groups II and III;
• children with disabilities and their accompanying persons;
• members of large families;
• citizens with registration in the Far Eastern Federal District (Far Eastern Federal District);
• residents with permanent registration in the Kaliningrad region and full-time students at universities in the region.

What you need to buy a discounted ticket

The procedure for buying a ticket is no different from purchasing a regular ticket. This can be done on the official websites of airlines, through trusted aggregator sites, as well as in travel agencies and ticket offices of carriers.

If a passenger issues a ticket online, scans or photos of the documents are uploaded to the carrier's website. In case of personal application, they must be presented at the ticket office of the airline. Privileged categories of citizens will need originals of supporting documents in addition to their passports.:

• disability certificate and accompanying documents;
• pension certificate;
• student ID and certificate from the educational institution confirming full-time education;
• certificate of a large family.

It is recommended to plan your trip in advance. Ticket sales at subsidized fares usually open no earlier than six months before the departure date.

Subsidized flights in 2026

According to the approved plans for 2026, Rosaviatsia has included 305 air routes between the regions of Russia in the subsidy program. The sale of subsidized air tickets for next year traditionally started in mid-December.

Many Russian airlines, including Aeroflot, S7 Airlines, Yakutia and Alrosa, have already announced the opening of reservations. Passengers can purchase tickets for flights that will take place between January 1 and December 31, 2026.

For example, Aeroflot has started selling tickets to 25 destinations. The subsidies, in particular, apply to flights from Blagoveshchensk, Anadyr, Magadan, Khabarovsk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Gorno-Altaysk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Vladivostok, Yakutsk, Ulan-Ude and Kaliningrad to Moscow and vice versa.

S7 Airlines offers discounted fares to 68 destinations in its network, including flights from the cities of the Far East and Siberia to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi and other major centers. For residents of the Far Eastern Federal District, as before, there is a special program "Far East". Its key condition is permanent registration on the territory of one of the subjects of this federal district.

You can view the full list of subsidized routes in 2026 on the airline websites in the "Subsidized transportation" section, as well as on the Rosaviation website.

Earlier, Izvestia reported that the government would allocate more than 1.4 billion rubles to subsidize air transportation.

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