Flights at Sochi airport to face delays, affecting up to 55 schedules.
Sochi Airport is currently experiencing significant flight delays and cancellations, primarily due to reported drone attacks in the Krasnodar region. These incidents have led to airspace closures and emergency protocols, causing disruptions that have affected dozens of flights as of August 10, 2025.
The affected airports and cities include Sochi itself, where the delays originated, as well as other Russian cities like Krasnoyarsk, Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Novokuznetsk, and Norilsk. In these cities, about 1,000 passengers have reportedly been stranded due to the disruptions.
Flights to and from cities such as Moscow, Perm, Surgut, Yekaterinburg, and international routes like Antalya, Türkiye, and Sharjah, UAE, have also been affected by the delayed schedules at Sochi. International flights to Istanbul, Batumi, Yerevan, and Antalya are also experiencing delays from Sochi.
These disruptions are connected to ongoing conflict dynamics, with Ukraine reportedly designing drone flight paths near Russian airports, prompting airspace shutdowns by Russian authorities to protect civil flights. These incidents have significantly affected Russian domestic and some international air travel.
It's worth noting that some flight cancellations and delays around Russia in late July and early August have also been linked to technical failures in Russian airlines' information systems and cyberattack claims, particularly involving Aeroflot. However, these issues are distinct from the drone attack-related delays at Sochi.
Weather disruptions contribute to delays in other Russian airports, but they are not the main cause of the delays at Sochi for early August. To manage the situation, the "Carpet" plan was implemented in airports in Kaluga, Moscow, Kazan, Nizhnekamsk, Samara, Saratov, and Sochi to help ease the impact of the delays.
As of 10 August at 9:45 AM, 29 flights departing from Sochi Airport have been delayed, and another 26 flights arriving at Sochi Airport have been delayed. The total number of delayed flights from Sochi Airport now includes 65 departing flights and 52 arriving flights.
Passengers are advised to check their flight status with their airline before heading to the airport, as the situation remains fluid. The airport authorities are working to resume normal operations as soon as possible.
[1] Source: Russian News Agency TASS [2] Source: Reuters [3] Source: Interfax [4] Source: Aviation24.be [5] Source: Russian Weather Service Rosgidromet
- Despite the weather conditions being relatively stable in Sochi, the ongoing drone attacks in the Krasnodar region have led to significant flight disruptions, affecting the lifestyle of numerous travelers eventually stranded in cities like Tomsk, Novokuznetsk, Norilsk, and more.
- Unexpected delays or cancellations have affected travelers bound for places like Antalya, Türkiye, Sharjah, UAE, Istanbul, Yerevan, and Batumi, causing inconvenience to their vacation plans and overall travel experience.
