Nordwind Airlines is rerouting flights from 15 Russian cities to Sukhumi Airport instead of Sochi, the Russian news outlet pravda.ru reports. The schedule adjustments are in effect from September 18 to October 24.
The departure cities include Saint Petersburg, Kazan, Ufa, Perm, Nizhny Novgorod, Orenburg, Tomsk, Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo, Barnaul, Omsk, Magnitogorsk, Nizhnekamsk, Nizhnevartovsk, and Syktyvkar.
“The carrier has not explained the reasons for the change; however, regular closures of Sochi Airport have been recorded across the region due to the threat of Ukrainian drone strikes,” the outlet writes.
It is also noted that UAV attacks have led to multi-hour flight delays, including on routes arriving from Tbilisi and Batumi.
Sukhumi Airport, restored by Russia, resumed regular passenger operations in May 2025. According to the de facto authorities of Abkhazia, more than 170,000 passengers have passed through the terminal since the beginning of 2026.
Flights to occupied Sukhumi operate in violation of international law, specifically the ICAO Chicago Convention. The Georgian Civil Aviation Agency emphasizes that the facility is uncertified, making technical safety oversight impossible.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) revoked the airport’s location indicator code in 2006 and recognizes the area as part of Georgia’s sovereign airspace.