Flight Routes from Europe to Russia Post Sanctions

[Wiz]

Appreciate the heads up, Wiz. I think I'll route her via Antalya. 

I bet that between Jet2, Easy etc you must find appropriate timings....and good connecting times with Redwing....... on the other hand you can be generous and let them have a nice day by the pool or the sea in a nice hotel.

I am sure Olga and daughter would appreciate you been thoughtfull!

Wish them to have a nice holiday too.

PS: Due to F.... America, times have gone when booking  a night flight to Moscow and then to Ufa for £ 154, arriving very early in the morning....with a bunch of flowers.... ringing the bell.......and waking up the whole block.
 

Wiz thank you for sharing your insights.  Will a passenger who flies the route noted have to clear and than recheck there baggage via the new airline for there onward flight.

AvHdB for many years I have been in the travel bussines.....selling and organising holidays, to Greece, Usa, Spain and for a couple of seasons to Turkey and Ukraine.and I can assure you that I had huge problems only with the last 2.

Flying via IST it has been always a problem......according to my Turkish Barber.....Turks at the airports are uneducated in foreign languages, and rude manners.

Warning: People using the Baltic states Lithuania or Latvia going to Ballarus or return thry eill find long lines on the frontier and they may loose their flights to UK etc. My friend's BellaRussian wife was returning yesterday to uk but crossing the frontier to Lithuanis took her 9 hour and had to rebook flight for her and 3 children and of course pay a night in a hotel ........ As you must understand my friend is delighted.

Finally apologise for any mistakes because after an accident have to use my left hand for typing.... and it is bloody difficult typing with my left one.
 

[sparky114]

Appreciate the heads up, Wiz. I think I'll route her via Antalya. 

I bet that between Jet2, Easy etc you must find appropriate timings....and good connecting times with Redwing....... on the other hand you can be generous and let them have a nice day by the pool or the sea in a nice hotel.

I am sure Olga and daughter would appreciate you been thoughtfull!

Wish them to have a nice holiday too.

PS: Due to F.... America, times have gone when booking  a night flight to Moscow and then to Ufa for £ 154, arriving very early in the morning....with a bunch of flowers.... ringing the bell.......and waking up the whole block.
 

Wiz thank you for sharing your insights.  Will a passenger who flies the route noted have to clear and than recheck there baggage via the new airline for there onward flight.

AvHdB for many years I have been in the travel bussines.....selling and organising holidays, to Greece, Usa, Spain and for a couple of seasons to Turkey and Ukraine.and I can assure you that I had huge problems only with the last 2.

Flying via IST it has been always a problem......according to my Turkish Barber.....Turks at the airports are uneducated in foreign languages, and rude manners.

Warning: People using the Baltic states Lithuania or Latvia going to Ballarus or return thry eill find long lines on the frontier and they may loose their flights to UK etc. My friend's BellaRussian wife was returning yesterday to uk but crossing the frontier to Lithuanis took her 9 hour and had to rebook flight for her and 3 children and of course pay a night in a hotel ........ As you must understand my friend is delighted.

Finally apologise for any mistakes because after an accident have to use my left hand for typing.... and it is bloody difficult typing with my left one.
 

Thanks Wiz

Wifey has flown this a couple of times now with Pegasus, this lands in the smaller SAW Istanbal airport nice clean and tidy airport according to wifey and quick to navigate
Well i will get to see first hand in June and will get a greater knowledge then
Antalya we had a problem with as sometimes they swap the Terminals depending on how busy they are and as it is a main destination for Tourists it get that way in summer
So wifey arrived in Antalya to fly to Sochi but arrived at the wrong terminal and had to get a taxi and bags then change terminal all in the space of 3 hours between
As i say just our mileage on that one 
last time she flew i booked Pegasus the whole way through to Moscow and that worked fine
What ever way you look at it now it is a right PIA to get them / us to Russia, but if you are a confident and savvy flyer you should be ok as long as you understand the percentage chance of a change or delay or connection is high then you should be ok

[Wiz]

Appreciate the heads up, Wiz. I think I'll route her via Antalya. 

I bet that between Jet2, Easy etc you must find appropriate timings....and good connecting times with Redwing....... on the other hand you can be generous and let them have a nice day by the pool or the sea in a nice hotel.

I am sure Olga and daughter would appreciate you been thoughtfull!

Wish them to have a nice holiday too.

PS: Due to F.... America, times have gone when booking  a night flight to Moscow and then to Ufa for £ 154, arriving very early in the morning....with a bunch of flowers.... ringing the bell.......and waking up the whole block.
 

Wiz thank you for sharing your insights.  Will a passenger who flies the route noted have to clear and than recheck there baggage via the new airline for there onward flight.

AvHdB for many years I have been in the travel bussines.....selling and organising holidays, to Greece, Usa, Spain and for a couple of seasons to Turkey and Ukraine.and I can assure you that I had huge problems only with the last 2.

Flying via IST it has been always a problem......according to my Turkish Barber.....Turks at the airports are uneducated in foreign languages, and rude manners.

Warning: People using the Baltic states Lithuania or Latvia going to Ballarus or return thry eill find long lines on the frontier and they may loose their flights to UK etc. My friend's BellaRussian wife was returning yesterday to uk but crossing the frontier to Lithuanis took her 9 hour and had to rebook flight for her and 3 children and of course pay a night in a hotel ........ As you must understand my friend is delighted.

Finally apologise for any mistakes because after an accident have to use my left hand for typing.... and it is bloody difficult typing with my left one.
 

Thanks Wiz

Wifey has flown this a couple of times now with Pegasus, this lands in the smaller SAW Istanbal airport nice clean and tidy airport according to wifey and quick to navigate
Well i will get to see first hand in June and will get a greater knowledge then
Antalya we had a problem with as sometimes they swap the Terminals depending on how busy they are and as it is a main destination for Tourists it get that way in summer
So wifey arrived in Antalya to fly to Sochi but arrived at the wrong terminal and had to get a taxi and bags then change terminal all in the space of 3 hours between
As i say just our mileage on that one 
last time she flew i booked Pegasus the whole way through to Moscow and that worked fine
What ever way you look at it now it is a right PIA to get them / us to Russia, but if you are a confident and savvy flyer you should be ok as long as you understand the percentage chance of a change or delay or connection is high then you should be ok

Hi Sparky

Long time no speak……..glad you are still around.

My aim with my post was to advise everybody flying with Turkish airlines to pay attention to the connections between large and smaller Istanbul airports.

Of source flying Pegasus from UK via the small airport it is obvious that 3 hours between flights should be enough but not between Large and small.

Personally I would use Antalya for a nights stay and next day fly to UFA directly having a good day in a hotel,.using Easy and Pegasus……As a pensioner have time so combining a short holiday… is not bad. For me but prefer to go anywhere else except Turkey for holiday.

Regards

[Manny]

In line with Wiz's advice, I've booked wifey and dochka flights from Antalya to Samara with Aeroflot. Wait for it.......... £1400 

I've yet to book them the connections to and from Manchester, but that won't be rocket science.

[sparky114]

Well an update for you

Pegasus now decided to change Moscow Airports and times on us so making our now long journey even longer 
So all change i have cancelled the tickets got a refund...iknew it was a good thing to spend the extra on refundable tickets!!£2k+

Onwards we go and have now re-booked 

Flying Heathrow(closer to us than original stanstead) to Istanbul a comfortable 5 hour layover then Redwings ( dont know them) to Sochi then only a 8 hour train to home 
All in better setup for us and a saving including buying 20k Roubles of train tickets of £400 notes....Happy days

That is of course until some one hit the change button somewhere and i have to do it all again 

[BC]

A few months ago wife flew to Tallinn, then with the bus to St Pete then on from there.
https://ecolines.net/international/en/bus/tallinn(bus-station)-stpetersburg(bus-station)

[Markje]

then Redwings ( dont know them) to Sochi then only a 8 hour train to home 

Redwings is Aeroflot's budget airline if i'm not misstaken. Think cattle-class, but at least its transport.

[sparky114]

then Redwings ( dont know them) to Sochi then only a 8 hour train to home 

Redwings is Aeroflot's budget airline if i'm not misstaken. Think cattle-class, but at least its transport.

Thanks Markje

Well time will tell how it goes 
At the moment we are going through the phase that many of you know of how much stuff can my FSUW fit in a case then look to see if she can slim down my baggage requirements so she has more room 

[Manny]

A few months ago wife flew to Tallinn, then with the bus to St Pete then on from there.
https://ecolines.net/international/en/bus/tallinn(bus-station)-stpetersburg(bus-station)

That's a good route if going to that part of Russia. Its not a long journey especially but I bet she had 5 hours or so at the border at Narva?

[Manny]

In line with Wiz's advice, I've booked wifey and dochka flights from Antalya to Samara with Aeroflot. Wait for it.......... £1400 

I've yet to book them the connections to and from Manchester, but that won't be rocket science.

I thought I'd update this in case anyone else from here or Google is searching for this.

The only sensible way to get from Manchester (MAN) to Samara (KUF) now is to connect through Antalya (AYT) in Turkey. Each leg is about 4 hours. But plan a long gap in between because as you are using two different airlines (Easyjet from MAN to AYT and Aeroflot from AYT to KUF), you have to check out your luggage from one and check in the other again. And if one is late, the wheels fall off your plan.

I had always been a big fan of Easyjet (pre-Covid and back to Stelios days) but it looks like it's highly inefficient now. At least to Turkey. The outgoing flight was delayed about an hour and a half, she and Dochka still made their connection but their cases didn't. Easyjet lost them. 

It seems there is no firm plan to reunite people with their cases. You fill in all kinds of details on the Easyjet site and zero happens. The system is obviously designed for people holidaying in Turkey, not for people with onward flights with other airlines to different countries. The prospect of delivering her bags to Russia flummoxed them somewhat. They simply had no solution other than delivering them back to Manchester.

I was getting nowhere with Easyjet at all for days on end, apart from establishing they had landed in Turkey several days later. Eventually, FIL found a Turkish-speaking friend in Russia who called the lost luggage office in Antalya (as they have minimal English and even less Russian) and he arranged to get the cases flown out to Samara (KUF) but not delivered to the town 40 miles away. Thankfully, wifey has a friend who works in the airport, she intercepted her bags and dropped them off at the dacha the next day. However, it still meant she was without her bags for a total of 11 days. Easyjet suck!

Aeroflot on the other hand, seems like a model of efficiency. I've used them in the past and they are always wifey's first choice if she has to fly with a Russian airline. Aeroflot was on time both ways. Coming home, they got bumped up into Premium/Business FOC and got a TV and free champagne.

Back in Turkey, heading home with Easyjet again, they had her pissing about taking stuff out of cases in front of the queue as it was 2kg overweight (does it matter if it is in the hold or in your hand luggage?). Then the flight was an hour and a half late again. 

So overall, this is the route that works from MAN to KUF, but the fly in the ointment is Easyjet. Expect it to be routinely 1-2 hours late and expect to be hassled and nickel and dimed over luggage. And keep in mind they might lose your luggage.

Aeroflot however, is highly recommended.

[Contrarian]

In line with Wiz's advice, I've booked wifey and dochka flights from Antalya to Samara with Aeroflot. Wait for it.......... £1400 

I've yet to book them the connections to and from Manchester, but that won't be rocket science.

I thought I'd update this in case anyone else from here or Google is searching for this.

The only sensible way to get from Manchester (MAN) to Samara (KUF) now is to connect through Antalya (AYT) in Turkey. Each leg is about 4 hours. But plan a long gap in between because as you are using two different airlines (Easyjet from MAN to AYT and Aeroflot from AYT to KUF), you have to check out your luggage from one and check in the other again. And if one is late, the wheels fall off your plan.

I had always been a big fan of Easyjet (pre-Covid and back to Stelios days) but it looks like it's highly inefficient now. At least to Turkey. The outgoing flight was delayed about an hour and a half, she and Dochka still made their connection but their cases didn't. Easyjet lost them. 

It seems there is no firm plan to reunite people with their cases. You fill in all kinds of details on the Easyjet site and zero happens. The system is obviously designed for people holidaying in Turkey, not for people with onward flights with other airlines to different countries. The prospect of delivering her bags to Russia flummoxed them somewhat. They simply had no solution other than delivering them back to Manchester.

I was getting nowhere with Easyjet at all for days on end, apart from establishing they had landed in Turkey several days later. Eventually, FIL found a Turkish-speaking friend in Russia who called the lost luggage office in Antalya (as they have minimal English and even less Russian) and he arranged to get the cases flown out to Samara (KUF) but not delivered to the town 40 miles away. Thankfully, wifey has a friend who works in the airport, she intercepted her bags and dropped them off at the dacha the next day. However, it still meant she was without her bags for a total of 11 days. Easyjet suck!

Aeroflot on the other hand, seems like a model of efficiency. I've used them in the past and they are always wifey's first choice if she has to fly with a Russian airline. Aeroflot was on time both ways. Coming home, they got bumped up into Premium/Business FOC and got a TV and free champagne.

Back in Turkey, heading home with Easyjet again, they had her pissing about taking stuff out of cases in front of the queue as it was 2kg overweight (does it matter if it is in the hold or in your hand luggage?). Then the flight was an hour and a half late again. 

So overall, this is the route that works from MAN to KUF, but the fly in the ointment is Easyjet. Expect it to be routinely 1-2 hours late and expect to be hassled and nickel and dimed over luggage. And keep in mind they might lose your luggage.

Aeroflot however, is highly recommended.

Most bargain airlines suck, that's why they're cheap.

They are okay for a quick hop, like you mentioned.