Im not sure what year this article is from, but a few notes from my recent trips to Russia.
Capitaine wrote:
They stopped for fuel at Lviv, but needed a unique reference number from Moscow before entering Russia.
No flights from Ukraine to Russia currently. When we need to fly, a tech stop in Vilnius is made. What a waste of time and fuel…
Capitaine wrote:
Visas – 3 weeks minimum, some Euros, and a few hours of patience for the 150m queue at the Russian embassy (can be bypassed using an agent for some more Euros)
One can arrive to Russia with no visa. Need to stay in the plane for about two hours for them to make one. Cost is about EUR 500. I have multiple entry crew visa now, but had a single entry visa made on the spot earlier.
When was that? These days (well, before COVID) citizens of many EU countries were able to get some e-Visa?
Not sure what it is.
It was Oct 15 2020. Point is that one can arrive with nothing and still enter.
loco wrote:
what year this article is from
2010
The same two pilots were detained in Indonesia for a few days because they arrived 12 hours early…
One can arrive to Russia with no visa. Need to stay in the plane for about two hours for them to make one. Cost is about EUR 500. I have multiple entry crew visa now, but had a single entry visa made on the spot earlier.
AFAIK this is only possible in Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo, albeit being a PITA.
Thank you so much for this valuable information @pilotatotale:
I find this all very interesting and can relate to the story of different price points being offered/charged to different people. I would love to fly to Russia and find this information very helpful. I had on my bucket list to fly elsewhere in Eastern Europe this summer (covid19 permitting of course), but this information and your website triggers me to reconsider.
It works the same in Africa. If you don’t know your way around well, you rely on agencies that do take care of you. By now I know my way around in Southern Africa very well and the picture changes completely. I am not paying any agency anymore to arrange my fuel or arrange handling at a port of entry airport. So, with the local knowledge I now pay a fraction of what I paid in 2014 on my first flying tour through Africa by, at that time, hiring an agency to arrange for me all the permits, the fuel etc. and now knowing how to get the same results faster and cheaper myself!
Same thing is probably going on in Russia. You can pay a high(er) price to a handling agency at one of the major airports or figure out with the help of @pilotatotale” for example how to get to the same places for a lot less. I even find nowadays that in Africa there are pilots from South Africa that call me to figure out how I got into that airstrip or who to talk to to get the fuel arranged at a bush strip. It is that local knowledge that makes all the difference.
I agree. Very useful info from pilotatotale.
As for how expensive it can get at big airports, my record invoice below. 3 day stay at Vnukowo with a 10 ton plane.
loco wrote:
my record invoice below
Not bad! Did anybody complain or did it just get paid?
Sebastian_G wrote:
Not bad! Did anybody complain or did it just get paid?
Would you complain if the invoice was handed by some 2m tall ex-Rosgvardiya? 
Not cheap! Yes, I know, 10t aircraft, plus one of the main Moscow airpots (will probably cost the same for Heathrow), but still…
