Direct flights to link Grozny and Baku again after nearly two-year hiatus
Direct air service between Grozny and Baku will resume on October 27, 2026. Utair will operate flights three times a week—on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays—using Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Flights will depart from Grozny (Severny) International Airport (named after A.A. Kadyrov) at 16:40.
Plans to restore direct air links between Azerbaijan and Russia were first publicly announced in July. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov told TASS about the upcoming resumption of several routes following talks in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Flight restrictions were imposed following the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane on December 25, 2024. The Embraer 190 was flying from Baku to Grozny; however, after sustaining damage while in Russian airspace, it was unable to land at its destination and headed across the Caspian Sea toward Aktau. The aircraft crashed while attempting to land at the airport in Kazakhstan. Of the 67 people on board, 38 died.
The disaster caused a serious deterioration in relations between Baku and Moscow. Azerbaijan blamed the Russian air defense system for the incident, while Russian authorities did not accept responsibility for the crash. Subsequently, Azerbaijan Airlines suspended flights to a number of Russian cities.
In April 2026, Moscow and Baku announced an agreement to resolve the aftermath of the disaster, including the issue of compensation. By July, Bayramov reported that preparations were underway to restore direct flights on the routes that had been restricted following the tragedy.
