February 19th - Russia: international pariah, but well connected
Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast
The Independent
3.6 • 628 Ratings
🗓️ 19 February 2025
⏱️ 6 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As talk of a peace deal intensifies, Russia remains on the no-fly list for the UK and European Union. But many airlines from outside Europe are happy to fly to and from Moscow, St Petersburg and elsewhere – with the UAE better connected than ever, including flights on Air Arabia for only £80 one way between Abu Dhabi and Moscow. Access from the UK via Belgrade and Istanbul is easy. But be warned that the Foreign Office says Russia is a no-go zone.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to today's independent travel podcast with me, Simon Corder. It's Wednesday the 19th of |
| 0:06.6 | February. Almost three years then since Russia decided to invade Ukraine. You may remember those |
| 0:15.1 | terrible days when it looked as though the Russian army might actually have taken over, Kiev, the capital |
| 0:23.2 | within ever happened, and hundreds of thousands of people have died in a bloody and |
| 0:29.9 | unnecessary war, which appears to be the work of just one man Vladimir Putin, still the Russian president. You will also be aware that |
| 0:40.4 | talks between Donald Trump and the Russian president could take place as early as this month, |
| 0:46.7 | according to the Kremlin. Ukraine and its European allies are furious about the way that |
| 0:52.2 | they have been sidelined by America and Russia. But I thought it would be a good |
| 0:58.0 | opportunity just to look at how well connected Russia is with the rest of the world. I decided to take a look |
| 1:06.8 | and I've found that even though it's an international pariah in the eyes of many people, |
| 1:12.5 | there are still hundreds of flights from abroad to Moscow, St Petersburg and many other airports every day. |
| 1:21.4 | Some of the world's leading airlines. |
| 1:23.3 | I'm thinking here of Emirates, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, |
| 1:29.5 | all of them very good carriers, |
| 1:36.6 | are flying from their hubs to Russia's biggest cities, notably Moscow and St Petersburg. |
| 1:41.0 | In the opposite direction, if you happen to be a Russian and you're craving some winter sun, |
| 1:45.3 | well, you're spoilt for choice. There's a vast range of flights to Turkish and Egyptian resorts, as well as the Gulf and the Indian Ocean. Now, anybody who is tempted to |
| 1:53.3 | travel to Russia, a wonderful country that I've been lucky enough to visit many times, |
| 1:58.3 | should note that the foreign office warns against all travel there. |
| 2:01.7 | But anybody who insists, or indeed has family or personal connections there, will be flying |
| 2:08.5 | routinely, I imagine, from London Heathrow via Belgrade to Moscow for £440 return on air Serbia. Yes, the journey takes twice as long as the direct one |
| 2:21.4 | and yes, it's actually more expensive but it's perfectly doable. This flight on Air Serbia |
... |
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