In reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, numerous airline routes out of Russia have been blocked, and a number of secondary nations have essentially been transformed into gateways for passengers. Because they are among the few alternatives available to travelers seeking to enter or exit the nation, Serbia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have all witnessed an upsurge in traffic.
“With many routes to and from Russia effectively closed as a result of the imposition of sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine, we are seeing an increase in air travel through Serbia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates of more than 200 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels,” said Olivier Ponti, vice president of insights at ForwardKeys.
“When looking at bookings made between February 28th (when sanctions were imposed) and March 8th (when the most recent data was available), the top hubs for passengers traveling from Russia to Europe were Turkey, Serbia, and the United Arab Emirates,” the report said.
Ponti went on to say that Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Greece were the most popular European destinations for transfers through Turkey.
Travelers were making their way via Serbia to destinations such as Montenegro, Cyprus, France, Switzerland, and Italy. Finally, those who stopped in the UAE were in way to Cyprus, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, and France, among other destinations.
According to the findings of the study, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are also now operating as hubs for connecting Russia with the United States and several Asian locations.
The newest available data (during the week of March 7th) shows that there has been a 50 percent increase in scheduled arrival capacity from Russia to Serbia, a 12 percent increase in scheduled flight capacity to Turkey, and a five percent increase in scheduled arrival capacity to the United Arab Emirates since the imposition of sanctions on February 21st.
