No current plans to compensate airlines affected by flight restrictions - Russian transport minister

TIANJIN. Sept 1 (Interfax) - There are currently no plans to discuss compensation for financial losses which airlines have suffered due to attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles from Ukraine, and carriers are coping with the situation on the whole, Transport Minister Andrei Nikitin said.

"We are not currently discussing this issue. Because we are helping Russian airlines in various other ways and work with them as closely as possible. Now, companies are taking stock of their losses, for sure, but they are coping. If they need help, we will help, of course" Nikitin told journalists at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.

It has been reported repeatedly since the beginning of May that hundreds of flights to and from airports in Moscow and other Russian cities had been cancelled due to attacks by Ukrainian drones.

According to data from the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya), Russian airlines saw passenger transport fall 1.7% to 62.1 million people in the first seven months of 2025 and by 2.6% to 46.8 million on internal routes. Industry experts said that the reduction in traffic within Russia was driven by restrictions in the transportation capacity of airlines, the traditional rise in the cost of tickets to tourist destinations, as well as new restrictions on flights from several airports.