Русский
Russia’s Aurora Airlines will begin operating regular direct flights between Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Shanghai (China), starting from July 2, the airline said on Tuesday (May 26).
Aurora said that “In the summer schedule, flights from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Shanghai will operate from July 2, 2026, once a week. Flights will be operated on an A319 aircraft. One-way travel time will be 4 hours 20 minutes. Departure from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk will take place on Thursdays at 23:55 and arrival in Shanghai will be at 01:15 on Fridays. The return flight will be on Fridays at 02:15, with arrival in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk at 09:15.”
Aurora Airlines currently operates flights to China from Vladivostok, Khabarovsk and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. The Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Shanghai flight will become the ninth route it provides to China. Russian and Chinese nationals can visit each other’s countries on a visa-free programme.
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport is the base airport for Aurora Airlines. Eight carriers operate at the airport, flying to ten Russian cities and nine locations in the Sakhalin region. The airport served 1.54 million passengers in 2025. Tripadvisor’s Sakhalin tourism website is here and for Shanghai here.
Aurora is the largest airline in the Far East. The company’s fleet consists of 19 aircraft – eight medium-haul Airbus A319s, the same number of DHC-8s and three intra-regional DHC-6s. It was created in 2021, when the unified Far Eastern airline integrated the regional carriers Khabarovsk Airlines, Yakutia and Polar Airlines, Kamchatka Aviation, and ChukotAvia.
