The last two weeks have seen a flurry of sanctions as countries restrict Russian airlines from their airspace and vice versa. This has opened up fresh demand for the few airlines that can still fly to both Russia and the West as passengers still look to fly. Here's a look at which airlines are seeing or will see an uptick in demand recently.

Nearby

At the time of writing, Russian carriers have been banned from flying over or into the EU, US, Canada, and select other countries as part of economic sanctions. This move has been reciprocated, cutting the number of airlines able to fly passengers in and out of Russia. However, the ones that still can have seen a surge in demand from passengers.

Air Serbia is one such example. Since Serbia is not an EU member, its airlines are free to continue flying to Russia and carrying passengers into EU as previously. According to Ex-Yu Aviation, the flag carrier has sold out all of its Belgrade-Moscow services through March 15th and is planning on deploying its largest A330-200 on the route when available from long-haul services. The airline is also replacing Aeroflot's axed services, with flights rising from 8 to 15 weekly from Monday, with possibly more flights to come in the future.

Turkey, especially Turkish Airlines, has also become a major provider of connectivity in recent days. The country has not sanctioned Russia, the only NATO member not to do so, allowing it to continue carrying passengers unbridled. Flight prices have skyrocketed in recent days as many leave the country amid an economic crisis and seats run short.

Broader view

Looking beyond the immediate impact out of Russia, several airlines will see passenger demand in the coming months. With European, North American, and some Asian carriers unable to overfly Russia, connectivity to Asia will become severely limited. Flight times will go up anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours, assuming routes aren't axed altogether due to high fuel prices.

In this time, central connecting hubs like Dubai, Doha, Istanbul, and Abu Dhabi will see passenger counts increase as travel bounces back. With airlines forced to take the Pacific route on several flights, possibly with a remote stop in the middle, the appeal of flying through a major hub with Emirates or Qatar Airways will go up significantly. While Asia has travel restrictions now, things could change by the summer.

With uneven restrictions currently, some airlines will see a boost in passenger traffic as flights become longer or just disappear due to extra cost or range issues. This could affect price as well, sending ticket prices up just in time for summer travel globally. For now, the fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues on the ground and in the skies and will do so for months to come.

Have you been affected by the crisis in Ukraine? Let us know in the comments.