Russians using Serbian loophole to avoid EU flights ban

Airline seat capacity between Russia and Serbia increased by 50% in the first week of March compared with the week before Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, ForwardKeys said. Capacity is set to be increased further still in coming weeks, according to the company.

Russian arriving in Serbia are travelling on to Europe, with the top onward destinations being Cyprus, France, Switzerland and Italy. Russians are also travelling to the UK, Slovenia, Austria, Germany and Spain.

At the time of writing there was just one business class seat left on a flight leaving on Saturday from Moscow to Belgrade, costing £583, and no economy class seats.