LUXURY ESCAPE

Russians Paying $27K for Private Jet Flights to Dodge Draft

One charter company said its inquiries had shot up 100-fold.

Russians desperate to flee Vladimir Putin’s dreaded military draft are paying up to $27,000 each to secure a seat on a private jet as soaring demand for routes out of the country has sent airfares rocketing. Amid rumors of an imminent border closure to men of fighting age, wealthy Russians are predominantly fleeing to places like Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, which allow Russians to enter without a visa. To get there, they’re now willing to pay almost $30,000 each for a spot on board a private jet, with each eight-seater aircraft now able to charge $151,000 per rental—many times higher than the usual cost. “The situation is absolutely crazy at the moment,” Yevgeny Bikov, director of broker jet company Your Charter, told The Guardian. “We would get 50 requests a day; now it is around 5,000.”