Azimut Airlines says Russia is facing a critical aviation fuel situation and warned that operating flights under current conditions is losing economic viability. The carrier said this in an appeal to the Association of Air Transport Operators, cited by the industry Telegram channel Aviatorshchina.
According to the airline, in early June 2026 its main fuel supplier said consumption would need to be cut by about one-third from the previously requested volumes. The supplier attributed this to force majeure at oil refineries, which reduced the amount of aviation fuel available on the market.
Azimut also said alternative suppliers do not have the necessary fuel volumes. At the same time, the airline stressed, prices have risen sharply alongside the shortage. Since the beginning of June, aviation fuel prices at Russian airports have increased by an average of 17%, while in Makhachkala the price of jet fuel, according to the appeal, jumped by 64% to 157,000 rubles.
Under these conditions, carrying out the planned flight program is losing “all economic sense” on both international and domestic routes, the company said.
The carrier asked the association to appeal to Russia’s Energy Ministry and request measures to stabilize the situation.
The report says the fuel crisis in Russia began in late May 2026 amid intensified Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries. According to Reuters, from June 15 to June 21 gasoline production in the country fell by about 25% compared with the average daily level in June 2025.
Restrictions on sales of motor fuel, according to those data, have been introduced in central Russia, as well as in the Irkutsk, Omsk and Novosibirsk regions and in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, the country’s main oil-producing region. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, speaking at a meeting with Vladimir Putin, described the domestic market situation as difficult but under control, and called the fuel shortage periodically возникающими logistical problems in certain regions and at certain filling stations.