At least 26 major Russian airports have imposed aircraft refuelling restrictions as the country’s fuel crunch deepens, with limits now affecting both domestic and foreign carriers across a wide geographic spread. The measures range from allowing only the fuel volume stated in the flight plan to capping foreign airlines at enough fuel for a single flight, creating tighter operating margins for airlines serving hubs from St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad to Siberia and the Far East.
The restrictions began in June and expanded in a second wave in September, with durations varying from a few weeks to nearly seven months. Pulkovo in St. Petersburg is limiting fuelling to the planned amount only until 16 March 2027, while Kaliningrad’s Khrabrovo is under a similar rule through early December. In 15 of the 26 airports, the limits apply only to foreign airlines.
Southern Russia appears the most heavily affected. Sochi, Volgograd and Astrakhan are restricting all carriers, while Krasnodar is limiting foreign operators only. Other airports under similar constraints include hubs in Kazan, Ufa, Perm, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Tyumen, Irkutsk, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk and Yakutsk.