Aeroflot will restart daily scheduled flights between Moscow and Abu Dhabi from 1 October, deploying narrow-body Boeing 737-800 jets in a two-class business and economy layout, the airline’s press service announced. Ticket sales have opened, with one-way fares on the first day of operation starting at 47,800 roubles.

The route was suspended in early March 2026 after Middle Eastern states closed their airspace in response to a US-Israeli military operation against Iran, which drew Iranian strikes on Israel, American bases, and several Gulf states including the UAE. Russia’s transport ministry recorded 216 flight cancellations on 28 February–1 March, most on UAE-bound services, leaving an estimated 20,000 Russian citizens in the Emirates. While Emirati carrier Etihad resumed flights to Moscow and St Petersburg on 6 March, Aeroflot cancelled its own UAE departures scheduled before 12:30 on 3 March because of extended airspace restrictions.

The Abu Dhabi resumption completes a phased restoration of the carrier’s UAE network. Aeroflot restarted daily Moscow–Dubai flights on 1 June, later doubling to twice daily, and launched Krasnodar–Dubai services on 24 July. Its low-cost subsidiary Pobeda will re-enter the market on 3 September with Moscow–Dubai flights, followed by a four-times-weekly Moscow–Abu Dhabi service from 25 October. Flydubai has separately increased its Vnukovo–Dubai frequency to four daily flights in the second half of August.

The return of scheduled services signals a normalisation of the air corridor between Russia and the UAE after the brief but disruptive closure. The next operational milestone is the 1 October launch of Aeroflot’s Abu Dhabi route, with Pobeda’s entry later that month set to add further capacity.