Flights to Russia: How to Get There and Recommended Airlines

Russia is not as far away as it seems. It's only a 2-hour flight from Berlin and a bit more than 3 hours from London. The price of a return ticket from most European cities to Moscow is somewhere between €150 to €300. There are also many flights daily from major US cities, and you can get a return flight to Moscow from New York for about $450-$700 normally, depending on the season and how far ahead you book.

There are also several budget airlines that fly to Russia from major European cities. For example, Utair airlines flies from Berlin to Moscow for €70 one way and you can use the local low-cost airline Pobeda (a subsidiary of Aeroflot) and fly to Moscow from many European cities for €50 one way (but they are very strict with extra luggage, so watch out). You could also use budget flights to Baltic states (for example, Riga in Latvia with Air Baltic) and then take a train or a bus to Russia. If you go for one of these options, you'll be able to make it to Russia for about €60 one way. Read more about that in our Budget Travel section. 
 

 

 
If you're traveling within Russia, sometimes taking a flight may be cheaper and certainly faster than taking a train. For example, a one way flight from Moscow to Irkutsk (Baikal lake) costs the same as a 2nd class train. The difference is that the flight takes 6 hours, and the train takes 4 days (although of course you're losing out on the unique Trans-Siberian experience and tons of free vodka from your co-travelers).
 
Finally, Russia is a good stopover point if you're traveling to far-out Asian destinations. There are some cheap direct flights to Bangkok ($400 return) and to Dehli ($400 return) with Aeroflot, for example.