Subsidies for airline tickets for beneficiaries: the experiment is set to be extended in Russia.

      Members of the State Duma have appealed to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin with a proposal to extend the experiment on subsidizing airline tickets for pensioners, youth, disabled individuals, and large families.

      From January 1, 2025, to November 2, 2026, a special program is in effect in Russia. The government directly allocates subsidies to airlines—meaning it compensates them for part of their costs. In response, carriers reduce ticket prices for passengers from privileged categories. The mechanism is simple: a person pays less, and the budget covers the difference.

      Who can already fly cheaply

      Cheap tickets are available to:

      citizens up to 23 years old inclusive;

      pensioners (by age);

      disabled individuals of group I, as well as disabled individuals of groups II and III from childhood;

      members of large families;

      residents of the Far East and the Kaliningrad region—when returning to these regions.

      The authors of the appeal to the government note that the experiment has already proven its viability. People have started to actually buy tickets at special rates more often, rather than refusing trips due to high prices. Airlines, in turn, have received predictable seat occupancy. That is, everyone has benefited: the budget (due to social stability), businesses, and citizens.

      What they propose to change

      The deputies want not just to extend the deadlines. The main idea is to make the preferential subsidies not a temporary experiment, but a long-term tool of state support. This means that after November 2026, the program will not disappear but will become permanent. People will be able to plan trips to relatives, for treatment, or for leisure—knowing that a subsidized ticket will be available both in a year and in three years.

      Currently, the appeal is directed to the Prime Minister. If the initiative is supported, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance will refine the mechanism to eliminate abuses and make subsidization transparent. The list of privileged categories is also likely to expand—this issue is being discussed as well.

      Subsidized airline tickets are not charity but an economically justified mechanism that connects the country. Especially for remote regions, where the airplane is the only way to quickly reach the center. If the experiment becomes permanent, millions of Russians will gain real mobility, not an illusion of choice. We just have to wait for the government's decision.

      Photo by the author

      Yulia Kazamarova

      More news about the event:

      Subsidies for airline tickets for privileged individuals: the experiment is proposed to be extended in Russia

      Members of the State Duma have appealed to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin with a proposal to extend the experiment on subsidizing airline tickets for pensioners, youth, 18:15 14.05.2026 News of Zainsk - Zainsk

      Subsidies for airline tickets for privileged individuals: the experiment is proposed to be extended in Russia

      Members of the State Duma have appealed to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin with a proposal to extend the experiment on subsidizing airline tickets for pensioners, youth, 17:33 14.05.2026 Zainsk-inform - Zainsk