As a result of the war in Ukraine the Russian air travel suffered severe collateral damage. A few days after the military invasion ordered by the Kremlin (which began on February 24, 2022) European countries closed their airspace to Russian airlines. Russian companies have never been so isolated, even during the darkest times of the Cold War.

Among the most significant signals is the suspension of the Moscow-New York air link, the planning of which was the result of negotiations between the two countries which began in the Soviet era and lasted almost ten years. In 2014, after the first Western economic sanctions against Russia, relations between Russian airlines such as Aeroflot and manufacturers such as Airbus and Boeing remained intact. The 2022 sanctions are much harder to swallow.

Today, Russian companies have lost 90% of international destinations, leasing contracts have been suspended, technical, maintenance and logistic support for aircraft purchased abroad have been cut off, commercial partnerships with other airlines have been interrupted, the sale of software, insurance contracts and other services by foreign companies.

Aeroflot lost flight royalties from European carriers that amounted to 500-800 million dollars a year before the pandemic. Russian airlines rely almost exclusively on domestic routes. Eleven airports in the south of the country, including popular tourist destinations served, have been closed. The air transport sector is now dependent on government subsidies (approximately 4.5 billion dollars in 2022). Many in Russia's aviation industry are hoping for the war to end as soon as possible.