Review of Rossiya flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg in Economy

So I actually already posted this for an hour a bit ago, but deleted it since I was in the country at the time and didn't want to get flagged. Even though these are mostly good things. Anyways, welcome back to the Russia series!

Moscow Bonus

I stayed in Moscow for about 5 days and it was truly an incredible city. Just wow. What else to say really but I'll let the pictures talk!

I found a hidden gem for a hotel. 10 minute walk to the Bolshoi, only 150 USD per night and a lovely boutique hotel. Gosh, I love Moscow.

And of course, aside from the 4 days straight of partyting, we did manage to squeeze in some sites.

And a local burger… with jam???

Intro

I recently got to fly on my first Russian Airliner, and my first experience with Aeroflot (sort of). How was it? I think the Sukhoi might be my favorite narrowbody aircraft in the world, since it’s such a smooth ride in all regards. Let’s jump in.

It’s not every day you come across a review of Rossiya in these times. For the sake of this review, I would kindly request that we leave politics out of this and truly enjoy a look into the Russian aviation scene. Thank you! 

Routing

What is Rossiya

For starters, let’s touch upon what the airline Rossiya is. Rossiya is a carrier that is 100% owned by Aeroflot, the flag carrier of Russia, and operates routes sold under Aeroflot to various places around the country/internationally.

They have a large fleet of well over 80 Sukhoi jets, 10 777s, 2 active 747s (big surprise hopefully coming), some A320s and 737s. You can find the widebodies often serving Cuba, Eastern Russia, and a few other random long-haul routes. 

It’s a pretty neat subsidiary, but to be honest, the price is exactly the same as regular operated Aeroflot routes. 

Booking

Booking flights in Russia isn’t exactly straightforward, and I’ll be making a dedicated post about this soon. However, the morning of this flight, I headed onto Wego and bought a ticket for 70$ for a flight leaving in 3 hours…

But it didn’t confirm, becasue the flight had just sold out… All my other flights on Wego had confirmed, though, so it was a one-off…

Thus, when I arrived at the airport, I went to the ticketing office and purchased a flight in cash for 5700 Rubles, not a bad deal for a last-minute fare in my eyes. The agents were extremely nice as well!

For reference, I booked a light fare (basic) that came with:


1 personal item (up to 10kg)

Free seat selection

No refunds/exchanges


I thought that was pretty generous for a basic economy experience.

Getting To SVO

Seeing as I was staying near the Bolshoi Theatre, it made sense to choose SVO (Sheremetyevo). Moscow has 3 main airports, with SVO being home to most Chinese carriers, Aeroflot, Qatar, and Etihad, while DME is S7's home, and VKO is a bit of a mixed bag.

Ordering up my Yandex Go (my gosh, puts Uber to shame), I headed out from my swanky boutique hotel to meet this lovely man from Russia. Not a lot of people speak English in Russia, and I would never expect them to because I am visiting their country, but here was this polished man in a beautiful suit who confirmed we were on the way to SVO.

Welcome to SVO!

A quick security check and we are through to departures!

The drive took about 40 minutes flat and cost about 1200 Rubles (15$). As long as you don’t go during peak periods, the traffic isn’t too bad. Alternatively, one can also choose to take the Aeroexpress, but trying to read a sign in Russian is like trying to find the Moon on Mars. 

Check In

A few days when I landed at Terminal C from Beijing, I realized that Terminal C is the international terminal. Aeroflot uses Terminal B for domestic departures. Sorting out my new ticket, I made my way over to check-in, which was quiet at that time of morning. A lovely Aeroflot agent gave me a big smile, issued me a window seat, and it was off through security. 

I stopped by for a cheeky carbonara before heading through security, which was very quick at this hour. Evening time is when the widebodies depart East. Expensive…

While I do not have Skyteam status (only OW Sapphire and *A Gold atm), it seems that Aeroflot still honors that for Sky Priority? Not only that, their website states you can credit Aeroflot flights to… wait for it… Skyteam partners??

Planespotting At SVO

With a little bit of time to kill, and having already eaten landside of the terminal, it was time to lay my eyes on the Aeroflot livery in person. To say I was excited would be the understatement of the year. When I saw the Rossiya 747 in front of me, I think I did a little dance inside. 

Then I turned around and saw this A340. Who’s could it be? Mahan Air!!

Also… Caviar… Gosh, Russia is so cool. 

Boarding

Okay, okay, enough! Time to get on board this bird. Aeroflot has an interesting system going on at SVO for their Sukhoi Superjets. All of these smaller planes depart from remote stands, so down the stairs we went.

Immediately, one could tell how efficient these commuter flights are. Boarding started right on the dot at 10:20, with everyone being shuttled onto the bus, while boarding was closed right at 10:40, and both buses followed in sync out to our Sukhoi for the day.

A quick 3-minute drive and we had arrived at our beautiful red and white painted Russian aircraft. Like a kid inside, you could not wipe the smile off my face if you tried. A dream coming to reality, I was met with a smile from the lovely Rossiya crew. 

The Seat/Cabin

Immediately turning left, I came across the 3 rows of business class laid out in a 2-2 configuration. Not only was the color scheme beautiful, but the seats seemed spacious, and take a look at how modern they were! Sure, not cutting edge, but it seems that all airlines in Russia have stripped out seatback entertainment. 

NO IFE

Moving along back to where I would be sitting, I found the economy cabin laid out in a 2-3 configuration. Featuring 75 seats, the cabin looked pretty, but was quite basic in terms of amenities. Shoutout to the legroom, though, as I felt that it was quite generous for a narrowbody aircraft. Also, overhead vents! I have a bone to pick with China Eastern about this 😂.

The great thing about the Sukhoi is that the economy cabin is laid out in a 2-3 configuration. If you are unlike the frying pan I am and book earlier, it’s nice to not have a middle seat on the starboard side. Who was I to complain? I was on a Russian aircraft!!!!!

I ended up having a couple next to me…

Departure

With boarding being wrapped up in a timely manner, the doors closed 5 minutes prior to departure, at which point the cabin crew performed the safety demonstration in Russian and English. The captain came on to announce our flight time of 1 hour and 4 minutes, and soon enough, the flaps were deployed, spoilers tested, and goosebumps filled my veins.

Right on the dot at 11:00 am, we began moving, and the first thing I could see was how smart SVO has designed these commuter flights. B gates is right in the middle of the main departure runway, and being a short-runway aircraft, it was a 5-minute taxi until we rocketed out from only 2/3 of the way down the runway.

How about this for some departure shots! Doesn’t get much better 🙂.

The Flight

Eyes glued to the window as if this was my first ever flight, it was a quick climb up to 10,000 feet, at which point the (real) curtains were closed to the business class cabin.


Now, let’s get this out of the way quickly here. Rossiya does not offer any sort of Wifi or entertainment onboard on the Sukhois, unlike Aeroflot. However, 2 things:


These Sukhoi jets don’t serve long routes by any means. The most you will be looking at is just shy of 3 hours.

They had a seatback magazine featuring their fleet. I’m sure if you fly them enough, you will get bored of this, but being a first timer, it was heaven to attempt to read Cyrillic 😅 (key word: attempt, I felt like a child reading those books with pop-up pages ha). 

Oh look J on the Aeroflot A350: coming soon!

Roughly 20 minutes after departure, the cabin crew sprang into action to distribute the in-flight service for today. Due to being such a short flight, we received a small snack, along with a choice of beverage consisting of water, coffee, tea, and pop (soda, idk). It must be said for those curious, Coca-Cola does not operate anymore in Russia, and they have this local kind of Cola, which happens to be the same brand name as the one in Yemen I experienced. 

All in all, a solid offering for such a short flight.

Arrival

By the time the cabin crew had come around to pick up everyone's garbage, it was time for our initial descent down into Saint Petersburg. To say I was excited, well, that doesn’t even cut it. My grandmother always said this is the most beautiful city in the world, my mum has always been dying to go (she has been to Mockba), so I was on edge waiting to see that first glimpse of the city. Argh.

It was an interesting approach as there were lots of twists and turns, but we eventually lined up for landing and touched down right on the dot at 12:17 on a beautiful day in Saint Petersburg. The power on these planes is immense; we came to a stop in no time! Reminded me of an ATR in some regards in the way it can operate these sorts of runways. 

Gorgeous views. Wow

Hello fellow friend!

Due to how quickly we came to a halt, we had arrived at our remote stand ahead of schedule. Although I was in economy, I was pleased to see how the curtains were quickly shut for business class passengers as they made their way into a private shuttle. Not long after, it was our turn to get off, and we were soon through to the Saint Petersburg arrivals area.

I had a lovely taxi driver to the Radisson who was from Kazakhastan!

Welcome to SPB!

Tourism Bonus

Let's start with the hotel. I stayed at the Radisson for all 2 nights and really liked it. A very pleasant place for a reasonable price (160$).

But what I loved was SPB. I walked 50,000 steps around town over 3 days it was remarkable. By far what I consider to be the most beautiful city in the world. Just check some of these buildings out.

Truly incredible…

I also visited some of the ships, but did not go inside due to how long the line was. Sadly…

The local KFC here (Rostics):

Finally, I did visit the train museum since I am obsessed with trains. Played a vital role in Russia's history…

Grand Express

And speaking of, on the way back to Moscow, I decided to pay 380 USD for a private business class compartment on the Grand Express. What an incredible experience. Amazing service, included driver, and anything you could really want in life.

I slept like a baby and woke up to morning coffee on the train. Wow.

Anyways, thanks for reading!