Flying to Moscow on a budget
Moscow is a major hub served by 3 airports in Russia. Across the city's airports, around 52 airlines operate roughly 607 documented route pairings, connecting Moscow to approximately 68 direct destinations worldwide. For budget travellers, having multiple airports in one city is usually good news. Secondary airports tend to host the lowest-cost carriers and the cheapest fares, but the trade-off is a slower (and sometimes pricier) ground transfer to the city centre.
The cheapest combination of base fare plus ground transport almost never lives at the same airport. As a rule of thumb, fly into the most-served airport when you have luggage, late arrival times, or a fixed work meeting. Fly into the cheapest secondary airport when you are travelling light, have flexible plans, and are arriving mid-day with the buses still running. We break down the airports below in order of route volume, so you can quickly see which carriers and destinations each one specialises in.
Airports serving Moscow
Domodedovo International Airport (DME)
Russia · 322 routes · 25 destinations
Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO)
Russia · 199 routes · 25 destinations
Vnukovo International Airport (VKO)
Russia · 86 routes · 25 destinations
Tips for landing in Moscow cheap
- Compare airports before booking. The headline-cheapest fare into the secondary airport is sometimes wiped out by a EUR 20+ ground transfer to the city centre.
- Check the last public-transport time. Late arrivals can force a pricey taxi if you miss the bus or train; verify against the inbound landing time, not the scheduled.
- Pre-book ground transport for arrival. A pre-paid bus ticket bought online is usually the cheapest predictable option; airport-counter taxi rates can run two to three times the metered fare.
- If you have multiple airports, fly in and out of different ones. Use Google Flights' multi-city search to capture the cheapest combination of one-ways across two airports.
- Watch for currency exchange traps. The airport bureaux are the worst place to change money; withdraw from a major-bank ATM in arrivals instead.
Top destinations from Moscow
| Code | City | Country |
|---|---|---|
| FRU | Bishkek | Kyrgyzstan |
| LED | St. Petersburg | Russia |
| VIE | Vienna | Austria |
| KRR | Krasnodar | Russia |
| FRA | Frankfurt | Germany |
| AYT | Antalya | Turkey |
| RIX | Riga | Latvia |
| TIV | Tivat | Montenegro |
| OSS | Osh | Kyrgyzstan |
| KZN | Kazan | Russia |
| ALC | Alicante | Spain |
| UFA | Ufa | Russia |
| BHK | Bukhara | Uzbekistan |
| EGO | Belgorod | Russia |
| NVI | Navoi | Uzbekistan |
| HER | Heraklion | Greece |
| RHO | Rhodos | Greece |
| SKG | Thessaloniki | Greece |
| MUC | Munich | Germany |
| MSQ | Minsk 2 | Belarus |
Airlines flying from Moscow
Delta Air Lines (DL)
United States
China Southern Airlines (CZ)
China
Air France (AF)
France
Lufthansa Cargo (LH)
Germany
Alitalia (AZ)
Italy · Budget
Iberia Airlines (IB)
Spain
Air Berlin (AB)
Germany
Turkish Airlines (TK)
Turkey
Scandinavian Airlines System (SK)
Sweden
Aeroflot Russian Airlines (SU)
Russia
Wizz Air (W6)
Hungary · Budget
Vueling Airlines (VY)
Spain · Budget
Finnair (AY)
Finland
Transaero Airlines (UN)
Russia
S7 Airlines (S7)
Russia
Austrian Airlines (OS)
Austria
Royal Air Maroc (AT)
Morocco
Ural Airlines (U6)
Russia