Getting to Italy from Russia in 2026

In short

There has been no direct air service between Russia and Italy for several years now, so any relocation starts with choosing a hub: Istanbul, Yerevan, Belgrade, Dubai, Baku or another transit city. There is no single "right" route - everything depends on your departure city, luggage, pets and which document you have in hand: a visa D, a Schengen visa or only the ricevuta. Below is a practical breakdown based on community experience: who flies with what, what gets asked at connections and the border, how people move suitcases when relocating and what it costs. An important caveat: routes, boarding rules and schedules change fast, so verify everything right before buying tickets. This is not legal advice.

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In short: how it works

• All routes involve a connection in a third country; luggage from Russia is often not checked through to the final destination, so budget time to collect and re-check it.
• Working combinations per the community: Istanbul (Turkish Airlines, Pegasus), Yerevan (FlyOne + Wizz Air), Belgrade, Dubai / Abu Dhabi, Baku (AZAL). Within Europe, cheap segments come from Wizz Air and Ryanair.
• With a valid visa D, boarding and the border go smoothly; with only the ricevuta everything is harder - see the section below.
• Tickets are sometimes requested at the visa D application, while the visa itself is often issued one to three days before departure - do not buy non-refundable fares cutting it close.
• A pet in the cabin - only with a spot confirmed in advance; transit through Turkey or Georgia with an exit from the transit zone means a rabies titer requirement.

Which hubs people fly through

Istanbul

The classic route: there are many flights from Russian cities, and onward to Milan, Rome, Bologna both Turkish Airlines and the low-cost carrier Pegasus fly. Keep in mind the city has two airports - the new IST and Sabiha Gokcen (SAW) - and with separate tickets you can accidentally buy a connection requiring a transfer between them. Boarding an EU flight from Istanbul, per community experience, goes routinely if your documents are in order; questions arise in non-standard situations - for example, trying to fly on the ricevuta alone or with a pet without the full set of certificates.

I flew with a cat on the Moscow - Istanbul - Rome chain on two low-cost carriers. I was bracing for interrogations, but in fact nobody asked anything at departure, and at the connection they only glanced at the passport. The carrier bag whose dimensions I had picked so carefully was never measured once.

Yerevan

A popular option for those who value a single ticket to Italy: FlyOne sells through-routes like Moscow - Yerevan - Milan (Malpensa) or Sochi - Yerevan - Milan. If you are given boarding passes for both segments at departure, you do not need to leave the transit area. The quirk of Zvartnots airport: it is small, there is no full transit zone, so with separate tickets you exit through the border and check in again one floor up. The second working combination is to fly to Yerevan and take a separate Wizz Air segment: per community observations the flight to Rome is at times cheaper than to Milan, so compare both cities.

Zvartnots is compact: a couple of cafes, a tiny duty-free and one business lounge. I have connected there more than once, always exiting into the public area and going back in - that is a normal scenario. On a single-ticket transit they only glanced at my boarding pass and the first page of my passport.

Belgrade

The Serbian route is loved for being compatible with ground logistics: buses run from Belgrade to Milan, and for a family with a mountain of bags that is a way to avoid paying for excess weight. The downside is that connections are often long, with an exit into the city, which means crossing the border. Before buying, check the current transit rules and flight availability: frequencies on this route have changed repeatedly.

Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Baku

The eastern hubs come to the rescue when you need to fly out of the regions or in high season, but the leg is longer and usually more expensive. For Baku the community notes an extra security check right at the terminal entrance - budget an extra 30-40 minutes. The flip side of big hubs is the crowds at passport control in Italy: when several long-haul flights arrive at once, the non-EU citizens queue can take an hour.

Low-cost carriers for the second leg: Wizz Air and Ryanair

If the first segment got you to Yerevan, Istanbul or Belgrade, the second is often cheaper on a low-cost carrier. Wizz Air flies from Yerevan to Italy directly, Ryanair is useful once inside Europe: its network covers regional airports like Bergamo (Bergamo - effectively the second airport of Milan), Pisa or Pescara, and on promos tickets between European cities start at a few euro. Remember their strict cabin baggage limits: when relocating with suitcases, the cheap fare quickly piles up surcharges. And check the payment method on board and when booking - passengers have run into cases where a specific card (for example, Revolut) was not accepted on board.

A single ticket or two separate ones

A single ticket is protection: if the first segment is delayed, the carrier must put you on the next flight, and luggage is more often checked through to the final destination. Separate tickets give flexibility and savings, but all the connection risks are yours: miss it - you buy a new ticket, and in any case you collect and re-check your suitcases, meaning you cross the transit country's border. Per community experience, low-cost carriers' customer services take weeks to reply, so "quickly rebooking" may not work out. When planning a relocation, many take a connection of 4-5 hours or more and stay overnight in the hub if the segments are bought separately.

A separate practical point: at the visa D application some consulates and visa centers ask to show a flight booking, while the visa itself is often handed out literally a couple of days before the departure date. The community advises setting the travel date with a margin and not buying fully non-refundable fares - refunds and changes are usually available in the higher fare classes on the airline's own website, while aggregators show basic economy by default.

What gets checked at the connection and the border

With a valid visa D

The calmest scenario. At the check-in desk the agent verifies your documents against the Timatic database - that is what airlines use to decide who can board a flight to a given country. A valid visa D raises no questions. On arrival in Italy passport control is usually limited to checking the passport; at the exit through the green channel they may ask where you are flying from and how much cash you are carrying. No improvisation here: under EU rules amounts from 10 000 euro per person must be declared, and restrictions on certain goods categories exist too - check the current norms on official resources. As for personal electronics, the community does not confirm the fears: nobody in practice has had phones or laptops seized from arriving passengers.

Then the Italian bureaucracy proper begins: filing the KIT in the first days after entry - there is a separate breakdown of that, KIT and permesso di soggiorno.

If all you have is the ricevuta

A completely different case is when the permesso is not ready yet and you hold the filing receipt. Under the rules, with the first ricevuta you may only fly directly to your country of citizenship, and there are no direct flights to Russia - that is where the formal options end. With a renewal the situation is softer: the combination "expired permesso card + ricevuta" is entered in Timatic as a basis for entering Italy, and airlines accept it, although disputes do happen at desks in third countries. The community advises choosing Italian carriers for such flights - they recognize their own receipt without explanations. A detailed breakdown with cases is in the article ricevuta and travel, and you can quickly check your scenario here:

When traveling on the ricevuta, always attach the old permesso card, and if it is a first application - your passport. Be ready to explain the purpose of the trip clearly: a business meeting, an exhibition, relatives - these are normal reasons. And it is better to leave the EU and return through one and the same airport.

I had to fly home urgently when my tourist visa had already expired and all I had was the first ricevuta. They let me back in: at the border they verified that the receipt was issued while the visa was valid, looked at the exit stamp, made copies of the passports - and wished me luck. But that trip cost me an immense amount of nerves.

If your passport goes to the consulate for a long time for a visa, part of the community gets a second passport in advance - how that works is in the article second Russian international passport.

On the way back to Russia

When returning to Russia after a long absence, border officers sometimes ask where you have been and why so long: in community practice the question "why did you not enter for four months" was closed with an answer about tourism. And on where you can actually travel from Italy on which document and how to plan visits home, there is a separate article, trips from Italy.

Luggage when relocating

Relocation is not a trip with one suitcase, and the economics change here. What worked for the community:

• Buying extra luggage allowances from full-service carriers: families have flown with six 25 kg suitcases - expensive, but predictable and without the customs hassle of cargo.
• Sorting belongings ruthlessly: by the admission of those who moved, 99 percent of the "essential" turns out to be "can do without", and cargo rates for personal belongings have grown obscene - it is often cheaper to sell and buy anew on the spot.
• For large volumes, consider ground options - the same Belgrade - Milan bus takes more bags than a low-cost carrier will allow for the same money.
• Animal-origin food cannot, as a general rule, be brought into the EU from third countries (meat, dairy) - see the restrictions and exceptions on salute.gov.it; do not gamble with delicacies in your cabin bag.

We moved our things gradually because we flew often. For the final run we simply bought extra luggage allowances - my wife flew with a child and six suitcases of 25 kilograms each. It came out cheaper and calmer than dealing with cargo.

Pets in the cabin

Just the essentials, because the topic deserves a separate guide - and we have one: transporting a pet to Italy.

• The cabin usually takes animals weighing up to ~8 kg together with the carrier, weighed at check-in; spots per flight are few (roughly two in the cabin, two in the hold), so the spot is booked before buying the ticket. With Pegasus, for example, a pet booking is made only via the hotline phone.
• The key trap is transit: if you leave the transit zone in Turkey, Georgia or Kazakhstan, the animal will be required to have rabies antibody titers for further entry into the EU. Fly without leaving transit on a through ticket - the requirements are softer. The community has sad cases where a dog without titers was not allowed on an Istanbul - Italy flight and was left with friends for months.
• The rabies vaccination must be no fresher than 30 days and no older than a year, parasite treatments - a few days before departure; Bergamo airport has no veterinary inspector on arrival, and none was reported at the new Istanbul airport either. Check the EU pet entry rules on salute.gov.it.

What it costs: community reference points

All the figures below are volatile and given as orders of magnitude per community experience, not as a price list:

• A connecting flight per person has long stopped costing pre-covid money - in a single year the community recorded growth of around 40 percent; budget with a margin.
• A European segment on a low-cost carrier - from a laughable 5-15 euro on a promo from regional airports to quite grown-up sums in season; luggage and seat selection are paid separately.
• Order airport taxis in transit hubs via an app, not from touts: in Yerevan a fair price from the airport to the city is several times below what they quote at the exit.
• Renting a car in Italy for the first while - roughly 60-70 euro for 5-6 days in the mini class with an advance booking, but major rental companies at airports require a credit card.

First steps on arrival

From Malpensa to Milan is about 40 minutes by ground transport. Buying a SIM card right at the airport is not recommended: tourist plans are pricier and come with limits, better walk to an operator's store in the city - details in the article SIM card and phone in Italy. If you entered on a visa D, you have 8 days to file the KIT - see the step-by-step breakdown. And if you are still only looking around and going on a scouting trip, start with the article tourist visa C. The whole path after landing, from the KIT to residenza and work, is in the plan moving to Italy from Russia step by step.

Related articles

• Transporting a pet to Italy - titers, the pet passport, airline rules and routes with a pet.
• Trips from Italy - where and with which documents you can travel after relocating.
• Ricevuta and travel - what gives the right to leave and return while the permesso is being processed.
• Second Russian international passport - how to travel while the first passport is at the consulate.
• Tourist visa C - the option for a scouting trip before relocating.
• Transport apps in Italy compared - how to get from the airport and buy tickets on the spot.
• Glossary - Italian terms decoded in one list.

Official sources

• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy (esteri.it) - visas, consular matters, entry rules.
• Visti per l'Italia (vistoperitalia.esteri.it) - the official portal for Italian visas: checking the requirements for your situation.
• Ministry of Health of Italy (salute.gov.it) - rules for bringing in animals and food.
• State Police (poliziadistato.it) - border control and rules of stay for foreigners.

Frequently asked questions

Which cities do people currently fly through from Russia to Italy?

Per the community, the most well-trodden hubs are Istanbul (Turkish Airlines, Pegasus), Yerevan (FlyOne, then Wizz Air), Belgrade (Air Serbia), Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Baku (AZAL). From there either the same carrier takes you to Italy, or people buy a separate segment on a low-cost airline. Schedules and boarding eligibility change regularly - check the route right before buying.

What do they ask at the border in Italy if you enter on a visa D?

Per community experience, with a valid visa D passport control is routine: they look at the passport and the visa, occasionally ask a couple of questions. At the exit through the green channel they may ask where the flight came from and how much cash you carry - amounts from 10 000 euro must be declared under EU rules. This is not legal advice; check the current rules on official resources.

Can I fly out and come back while all I have instead of the permesso is the ricevuta?

Under the rules, with the first ricevuta only a direct flight to your country of citizenship is allowed, and there are no direct flights to Russia - so formally the window is closed. The combination of an expired permesso plus a renewal ricevuta is usually accepted by airlines. Practice varies a lot by hub and carrier - see our ricevuta breakdown and verify your own case in advance.

How much does it cost to get from Russia to Italy?

Per the community, a connecting flight for a family comes out noticeably more expensive than pre-covid times: prices have grown by tens of percent, and a European segment on a low-cost carrier can cost 10-20 euro on a promo or several times more in season. The exact amounts depend on dates, luggage and the hub - all figures are volatile, check the current ones on the airlines' websites.

Can I take a cat or a dog into the cabin?

Usually yes, if the weight with the carrier is up to ~8 kg and the spot is booked in advance: the number of animals per flight is limited, and Pegasus takes pet bookings only by phone. The main pitfall is transit: if you leave the transit zone in Turkey or Georgia, you will need rabies antibody titers to enter the EU. Details are in the separate article on transporting pets.

Should I buy a single ticket or two separate segments?

A single ticket is safer: if the connection fails, the carrier must rebook you, and luggage is more often checked through to the final destination. Two separate tickets are cheaper and more flexible, but missing the second segment is your problem, plus you will have to collect and re-check your luggage, which means passing through the transit country's border.

Related materials - Guides

• EU Entry/Exit System (EES): no stamps, 90/180 check
• Patronato and CAF in Italy: free help
• Italy transport 2026: trains and passes
• Transport apps in Italy compared

Next stepTravel & re-entry on the ricevutaRe-entry on the ricevuta

Documents for this topic

• Sponsor letter sample: letter of sponsorship
• Document Checklist for Student Visa to Italy (Courses), Consulate St. Petersburg
• Checklist of Documents for Tourist Visa to Italy (version 07.09.2022, duplicate)