Review of Red Wings flight from Moscow to Saransk in Economy

Greetings to aviation enthusiasts and those who sympathize with us!
Today I present to you my first flight story and it will be a flight from Moscow Zhukovsky airport to the Russian city of Saransk on the Tu-214. Unfortunately I could not find in the settings of the Tu-214, here there is only the Tu-204/
I've been following this flight since March, but I couldn't find a suitable time. Additionally, there were occasional changes to the flight's itinerary. Initially, the departure and arrival airports were both Domodedovo, but later, the departure airport was changed to Domodedovo, and the arrival airport was changed to Zhukovsky. At one point, the tickets were no longer available for purchase, and I thought that my plans for this trip would be disrupted. However, I managed to use the available funds to purchase another trip, which will be discussed in the next review. But a couple of days later, they reappeared, and this time Zhukovsky was the departure and arrival airport. After waiting a little longer, I decided it was time to buy tickets.
The cost of a round-trip ticket without baggage was 4,460 rubles (53 euro), and with baggage it was 1,000 rubles (12 euro) more. As you can see, the price is probably the best you can get! And this is even considering that only Rossiya flies on this route, and the price is 5,500 rubles (65 euro) one-way, and on some days it can be as high as 7,500 rubles (89 euro).
But we don't look for easy ways, and even though it was clear that the plane would be half-empty, I decided to take precautions and pay for seats on both flights. The first row cost 1,500 rubles (18 euro), and from the second to the sixth row, the price was 999 rubles (12 euro). From the ninth to the twenty-ninth row, the window and aisle seats cost 499 rubles (6 euro), and the center seats cost 399 rubles (5 euro). The last five rows were available for 299 rubles (3.5 euro), and that's where we'll be sitting.
My flight was scheduled to depart at 6:20 a.m., so I needed to arrive at the airport around 4:30 a.m. Since this was a new and unfamiliar airport for me, I decided to take a taxi. The hotel was approximately 1,300 meters away from the airport terminal, and I could have walked there without any luggage in about 10-15 minutes. However, the rain outside discouraged me from walking, so I called a taxi. The taxi arrived quickly and took me to the airport in about four minutes for a total of 187 rubles.
It so happened that on May 30, 2026, Zhukovsky Airport celebrated its 10th anniversary. However, there were no reminders or congratulations for the airport itself, either in front of the terminal or inside it. In fact, the terminal was undergoing renovations, so you won't find any beautiful photos.

Zhukovsky surprised me at the entrance to the terminal, when they asked me to remove my belt. I had only seen this at pre-flight security checks before, but here it was immediately - remove your belt. Later, the same happened at Domodedovo, but I have not yet seen this in other airports.
The airport does not serve many flights per day: for example, on the day of my departure, there were 15 departures per day. And in the seasonal schedule, there were 21 destinations, mostly CIS countries, diluted with Turkey and Israel. Also in Russia: to Beloyarsky (RusLine), Kaliningrad (Ural Airlines), Nyagan and Saransk (Red Wings). But now flights to Saransk are no longer performed.
Only one frame and tape works at the entrance, so queues are periodically created.

Since this is my first time at this airport, of course, everything is interesting. On the ground floor, there are check-in counters; I immediately found the one I needed and, after receiving my boarding pass, continued on my way.

A little deeper, there is a small "Travel Goods" store, a place for repacking luggage, and luggage packaging itself (I unfortunately did not look at the price). On the other side, there is an exit from the baggage claim area for arriving passengers and a Shokoladnitsa cafe.

There is an escalator to the second floor, where the pre-flight inspection is located; you can go down the regular stairs or use the elevator in both directions.

After reaching the second floor, passengers are divided: one (the larger) part goes to international flights, while the other goes directly to domestic flights.

A long corridor with many seats leads to passport control and pre-flight inspection for domestic flights. Along the way, there are also various vending machines, a small store, a pharmacy, and a cafe.

If your phone runs out of battery, you can recharge it at special stations that are located about two aisles apart.

While your gadget is charging up for a long or short flight, you can admire the beauty of the Russian North at the exhibition located on the walls of the terminal.

After passing the preflight control, we enter the clean area. The first thing that immediately attracts attention is the Tu-144's layout and its flight and technical characteristics.

The airport itself is quite small, but it clearly handles so many domestic flights.
There are also vending machines with water, which cost 160 rubles (2 euro) for 0.5 liters. There is also a small cafe, which I understand only opened at the end of last year. As I had expected when I bought the ticket, there was not much to eat. The menu only had a burrito sandwich and a chicken sandwich, and only the chicken sandwich was available for 590 rubles (7 euro), and it was unclear how long they had been there. Therefore, I only ordered tea for 150 rubles (2 euro).

The airport has a great view of the airfield, especially since it's not just any ordinary airport, but Zhukovsky Airport! It's a treasure trove for aviation enthusiasts! Here, you can find a variety of interesting aircraft, from Soviet-era planes to the new MC-21. But more on that later, let's focus on the planes that operate regular flights from this airport: the A321 of Ural Airlines, the Superjet of Red Wings, and the CRJ 200 of RusLine.

On the left is a lone A321 Red Wings (VP-BVW), which may soon be added to the Sibir Airlines fleet.

Our plane is preparing to receive passengers.

A Tu-214 RA-64549 just arrived from Tel-Avia.

Far from the terminal, there are still Soviet-era aircraft that delight us with their flights.

While I was looking at the apron with the planes, boarding for our flight began. There are no jet bridges at the airport, so we were taken to the plane by bus.

Hello, Tupol! It's been a long time since we've seen each other so closely!

At the entrance, we greet the flight attendants and go to the second cabin to our seats. The aircraft has a single class layout and can accommodate 194 passengers.

Well, now let's take our seats. It's been nine years since I flew on a Tu-214, or rather, I haven't flown on a Tu-214 at all, only on a Tu-204.
There's plenty of legroom, and there shouldn't be any discomfort during the flight.

The antimacassars are still there, but at some point they started disappearing from the cabins, and for a while some airlines stopped using them. But I can't remember a single flight where they weren't present.

By the way, I forgot to mention that today we are flying on a Tu-214 with the tail number RA-64518, which was manufactured in 2009 and entered the Transaero fleet. In 2016, it was transferred to Red Wings, and in September 2017, it was placed in storage, where it remained until September 2023. Since February 2024, after being restored to airworthiness, this aircraft has been delighting us with its flights once again.
Above our heads, we have a standard set of three lights and fans, and the panel itself reminds us that the aircraft is not new. It will be interesting to see how this panel will look on the new Tu-214s when they finally become available in Russian airlines.

Okay, we'll have plenty of time to explore the cabin. While we're standing here, let's take a look out the window, and there's something worth noticing!
This is the fourth prototype of the MC-21-300, registration number 73056, which was manufactured in 2019. However, for some reason, it is labeled as the MC-21-310. They differ in their engines: the 21-310 has Russian PD-14 engines, while the 21-300 has American Pratt & Whitney PW1400G engines. However, the 73056 was manufactured in 2019 and had American engines. Therefore, it is unclear.

A little further away are the restored cargo Il-96-400T RA-96103 of Sky Gates and the Tu-204 Red Wings RA-64043 (I apologize for the poor quality of the photo).

Another interesting aircraft at the hangar is the Soviet M-55 Geophysics high-altitude reconnaissance and strike complex. The aircraft is capable of conducting research in the stratosphere at altitudes of up to 20 km, monitoring the air, land, and water basins, and acting as a relay for radio and telephone communication.

While we were looking at the planes on the apron, the landing was over, the ramp was removed from our plane, and we were pushed into the engine start-up area.
Now, as is our tradition, I suggest that you fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the takeoff of the Tu-214 from the longest runway (5,405 meters) in Europe and the third-longest runway in the world.

While we're on the tarmac, I took a closer look around. As I had anticipated, I was the only passenger in my section of the plane. However, I had not anticipated such a low passenger count.

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These panels and luggage racks reminded me of the good old Tu-154. Those who have flown on them may remember that the interiors of Soviet aircraft were not like the gray walls of modern planes, but were made of colorful plastic, almost like wallpaper, which added a sense of home comfort during the flight.

Let's take a break from the cabin and look out the window.

The dense clouds that have appeared force us to return to the cabin review. What haven't we seen yet? Right! The contents of the pocket! We only have a single safety instruction.

And just a few photos of the interior for a complete picture.

Meanwhile, I was brought the food that I had paid for when I bought the ticket. Let me remind you: we have a "beef roll" for 500 rubles (6 euro) and tea for 150 rubles (2 euro).
The taste was unremarkable, but it was worth noting that the beef was soft rather than tough, as is sometimes the case. I attempted to cut a piece of the packaging evenly, but it was up to you to judge the outcome.

While I was evaluating the taste of the roll, our plane began to descend. The weather in Saransk was good, and as we approached, we could see both the city and our arrival airport.

There was some turbulence during the landing, which you can see in the video, so let's buckle up and land in Saransk.

Saransk airport does not have taxiing parallel to the strip, and in order to get to the terminal, planes landing on strip 20 have to drive to the end of the strip, turn around there and drive back along the runway. Also for takeoff on strip 02, you have to drive to the end, turn around and take off.

Here we are in the parking lot, engines off, waiting for the mobile ramp. To our left is the one-story building of the international terminal.

After 7-10 minutes of waiting, passengers begin to exit the cabin. I take a few photos of the cabin and then leave.

There are no jet bridges in Saransk either, so we go down the regular jet bridge and take a bus to the terminal.

At the airport itself, we immediately get to the baggage claim area, which is small and has only one belt. In general, the airport's traffic is not very large, to put it mildly. The airport serves flights within Russia to Moscow (Rossiya), St. Petersburg (Azimut, Red Wings), Kazan (YVT Aero), Mineralnye Vody (Azimut), and Sochi (Red Wings). Currently, the only international destination is Antalya (Red Wings). As I saw on the airport's board, it serves a maximum of five flights per day.

Since I don't have any luggage, I'm heading out.

The terminal is not small, of course, and it is more than enough for this number of flights. It was put into operation on February 14, 2018, and was built to accommodate flights during the World Cup matches in the summer of 2018. It has a capacity of up to 300 people per hour (600 people per hour during the World Cup matches). In total, four games were played in Saransk: Peru vs Denmark, Colombia vs Japan, Iran vs Portugal, and Panama vs Tunisia.
On the ground floor, there is a waiting area for those who have arrived before their flight departs. There are also check-in counters, ticket offices, a small cafe, and a photo exhibition. An escalator leads to the passport control and security screening area, which can be seen in one of the photos.

You can get from the airport to the city by bus No. 29 (railway station - airport). According to the schedule on the airport website, there are 6 flights to the airport and 7 flights from the airport per day (the fare is 35 rubles).
Or by minibuses and buses to the Airport stop. However, it is not indicated that this stop is located on the highway and that you will have to walk almost three kilometers to the terminal.
There is another option, of course, by taxi. In the evening, when I returned to the airport for the return flight, I paid 429 rubles (5 euro) from the railway station.