No Money to Fly, No Planes to Fly by: How the War Is Destroying russia’s Civil Aviation

4/8/2026

russia’s airline azimut is rapidly heading toward bankruptcy. By the end of 2025, amid the economic crisis and a decline in real household incomes, the carrier’s net profit fell by 30.9% compared to 2024. Gross losses increased 1.5-fold to 2.778 billion rubles, while losses from sales rose by 34.5%, reaching 3.608 billion rubles. Other income fell by 11.3%.

The root cause of the collapse is the systemic deterioration of russia’s economy, triggered by the war against Ukraine and international sanctions. Inflation and rising prices have deprived a significant portion of russians of the ability to buy airline tickets: when money is scarce for food and clothing, spending on flights is the first to be cut. Demand is falling – the company’s revenue is following suit.

The situation is complicated by azimut’s technological dependence on imported components. The carrier’s entire fleet – 19 Superjet 100 aircraft – is formally a russian product, yet critically dependent on foreign parts. Despite the kremlin’s assurances of successful import substitution, no effective alternative has emerged: due to sanctions and disrupted logistics, aircraft maintenance has become an extremely costly and time-consuming task. Every flight widens the hole in the company’s budget, while the shortage of spare parts turns each flight into a deadly lottery.

Its bases in the south of russia – at the airports in krasnodar and mineralnye vody – have turned into an additional trap. Due to the war, regional airports are either systematically closed or operating under significant restrictions, depriving the company of operational stability.

The only thing keeping azimut from immediate collapse is state subsidies from a budget drained by military spending. In fact, the carrier survives not on commercial flights, but on artificial life support from taxpayer funds, most of whom can no longer afford to fly. Without this support, the company would have ceased to exist long ago – since it cannot generate revenue on its own.

azimut has become a hostage to a situation over which it has no control: constant uncertainty, military risks, and closed airports are systematically destroying any prospect of development. And for this “stability”, russian business should thank only putin.