The Russian airline Azimuth is rapidly approaching bankruptcy. By the end of 2025, amid an economic crisis and falling real incomes, the carrier’s net profit dropped by 30.9% compared to 2024. Gross losses grew 1.5 times—to 2.778 billion rubles—and losses from sales increased by 34.5%, reaching 3.608 billion rubles. Other income fell by 11.3%.
The root cause of the collapse is the systemic degradation of the Russian economy, driven by the war against Ukraine and international sanctions. Inflation and rising prices have deprived a large part of the population of the ability to buy airline tickets: when there isn’t enough money for food and clothing, spending on flights is cut first. As demand falls, company revenue follows.
The situation is further complicated by Azimuth’s technological dependence on imported components. The airline’s entire fleet—19 Superjet 100 aircraft—is technically a Russian product but critically dependent on foreign parts. Despite Kremlin assurances of successful import substitution, no effective alternative has emerged: due to sanctions and disrupted logistics, aircraft maintenance has become extremely expensive and time-consuming. Every flight increases the company’s budget deficit, and the shortage of spare parts turns each flight into a deadly lottery.
Basing operations in southern Russia—at the airports of Krasnodar and Mineralnye Vody—has become an additional trap. Because of the war, regional airports are either systematically closed or operating under severe restrictions, depriving the company of operational stability.
The only thing keeping Azimuth from immediate collapse is state subsidies from a budget already drained by military spending. In reality, the airline exists not on commercial revenue, but on artificial support funded by taxpayers, most of whom can no longer afford to fly. Without this support, the company would have ceased operations long ago, as it cannot generate profit independently.
Azimuth has become a hostage of circumstances beyond its control: constant uncertainty, military risks, and closed airports methodically destroy any prospects for development. And for this “stability,” Russian business has to thank Putin alone.
