The number of business jet flights from Moscow airports more than doubled from April to mid-June. All of them are carried out as charter and have a simplified scheme for issuing departure permits.

The number of business jet flights from Moscow from April to mid-June increased from 400 to about 850 per month,  RBC writes with reference to two sources in the Moscow airports.

At the Vnukovo-3 terminal, the number of flights in June alone almost tripled in comparison with April, to 669, the representative of Vnukovo said. He clarified that half of the flights are  international destinations. In terminal A Sheremetyevo over the same period, the number of flights increased from 155 to 166, a third of which were flights abroad, the source said. According to Flightradar for June 24 and 25, business jets flew to Moscow from London, Geneva, Paris, Stockholm, and Helsinki. At the same time, there were flights from Moscow airports to Berlin, London, Paris, Nice, Vienna and Ibiza.

At the end of March, Russia suspended international scheduled and charter flights, and also closed land and river borders. In early June, the ban was slightly eased: the Russians were allowed to travel abroad to their sick relatives, for work,  study or treatment.



Despite the ban, business jets continued flying, receiving a separate permission from the Federal Air Transport Agency for each flight. According to a source close to the aviation authorities, all business aviation flights are charter flights and   have a simplified scheme for issuing a flight permit.  The purpose of the trip must be indicated in the application for the flight for each passenger, and the application itself comes through the Federal Air Transport Agency to the operational headquarters, while other departments are not affected. For comparison, in order to arrange a flight abroad and back, commercial airlines need to send a request through the State Services, and provide passenger data to the Ministry of Communications. After that, all the information goes to the regional authorities and the Ministry of Internal Affairs,  and is coordinated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Transport and the operational headquarters for the fight against coronavirus.

A lot depends on the host country. Now the European Union is open only to holders of citizenship and a residence permit, and a visa is enough for a flight to the USA and Great Britain. However, even for such flights, Russians must justify the need for a trip, a source at a business aviation company explained.



Decisions on the full resumption of regular and charter flights abroad have not yet been made in Russia. On Friday, June 26, the head of the Ministry of Transport, Eugene Dietrich, noted that this could happen in July.   

The total number of business jets flights through Moscow airports in June is approximately 35 per day, a source close to the aviation authorities said. 

The increase in demand for international flights in June was confirmed by Flight Way Sales Director Eduard Simonov. “The main directions are France, Italy, Croatia, Spain, Great Britain, Turkey,” he said. Simonov added that a flight is possible only if the passenger has a passport or residence permit in the country of entry, or medical evidence, or this is a trip to study or under an employment contract.