The Sea of Azov II

We continue our tour around the Black Sea and fly around the Sea of Azov. It is notably shallow and about 340 km long and 135 km wide, with icebreakers sometimes needed for winter navigation.

We depart from Mariupol (UKCM), Ukraine. This was a serious industrial powerhouse — for decades it was home to the Azovstal Iron & Steel Works, one of the biggest steel producers in Europe, occupying about 11 square kilometres between the Kalmius River and the sea. The plant had tunnels and bunkers capable of withstanding a nuclear attack, which took on grim significance when it became the last Ukrainian stronghold during the 2022 siege, before ultimately falling to Russian forces. Departing eastward along the northern shore, we're flying over the Taganrog Gulf, a low sandy shoreline and the spits that jut southward into the sea — the Sea of Azov is characterized by numerous sand-coquina spits, and the coastline is generally low and uniform. The water below is remarkably shallow; the sea has an average depth of only about 8 metres and low salinity compared to most seas, becoming almost freshwater near the Don's outflow, Vajiram & Ravi.

We land at Yuzhny (URRT), Russia, near the city of Taganrog. Taganrog was founded by Peter I in 1698 and became the main port on the Sea of Azov. It's also the birthplace of Anton Chekhov. Continuing northeast, we're now crossing the broad Taganrog Bay — the largest bay in the Sea of Azov, with the Don and three other rivers flowing into it. The bay is so shallow and silted that constant dredging is needed to keep the channel open for Rostov traffic. The next two fields lead us around the city of Rostov-on-Don, the region's largest city. First, we land at Rostov Air Base (USEY), then fly around the city, and land at Platov International (URRP), the newer airport, opened in 2017. The town was established in 1749, and before the Russian Revolution, it was the empire's most heavily industrialized city. Thanks to the Volga-Don Canal, completed in 1952, Rostov earned the title "port of five seas" — reachable from the Black Sea, Azov, Caspian, White Sea, and Baltic. Just south of Rostov across the Don, our next stop, Bataysk (XRBB), is essentially a satellite town — a railway hub and industrial suburb. From here, we turn southwest, beginning the long leg down the eastern Azov coast. Flying southwest along the Russian shore, the coastal landscape stays flat with wide sandy beaches and the occasional liman (shallow lagoon).

We pass over the Kuban delta region — the Don and Kuban rivers discharge into the northern bays, forming rich wetland deltas supporting huge numbers of migratory birds, including pelicans and herons. We land at Yeysk (URKE). Yeysk is a port and resort town built primarily on the Yeysk Spit, which separates the Yeysk River from the Sea of Azov. It was founded as a port in 1848 and is well known as a health resort, famed for its medicinal sulfur and mud baths. The mud is hauled in from nearby Lake Khanskoye. These days it's also popular for windsurfing and kitesurfing — the spit creates reliable wind conditions. The town had a naval flight school that relocated here in the 1930s, with over 300 graduates later becoming Heroes of the Soviet Union.

Turning south, the coastline gets more interesting — we pick up the Taman Peninsula ahead and the distant profile of the Crimean hills to the west across the strait. The Temryuk Bay on our left is known for its mud volcanoes.

Now we reach the Kerch Bridge. With a length of 19 kilometres and a cost of $3.6 billion, it's the longest bridge in Europe, carrying both road and rail traffic across the Kerch Strait between the Taman Peninsula and Crimea. Construction began in 2016, and the road section opened in 2018, with the rail section following in 2019. It's been a recurring target during the war — hit by explosions in October 2022 and July 2023, and repaired both times.

Crossing into Crimea, we land at Baherove (UKBH). This was a Soviet air base established in 1947 to support nuclear weapons testing and delivery, with a 3.5-kilometre concrete runway 100 metres wide — one of three USSR strips built as an emergency landing site for the space shuttle Buran. The base was abandoned in 1996 and has been a ghost field ever since, though that enormous runway is still very much there. Kerch city itself is close by — an ancient place with Greek, Genoese, and Ottoman layers of history, and now a front-line city given its position at the bridge's Crimean end. We recross the strait, heading back to the Russian (Taman) side.

We land at Vitayazevo (URKA), the airport serving Anapa, a well-known seaside resort town on the Taman Peninsula coast. The landscape changes noticeably here — we transition from the flat Azov steppe to the beginnings of the Caucasus foothills. Flying southeast along the Black Sea coast, things get more scenic, and we land at Gelendzhik (URKG). The name "Gelendzhik" has Turkic roots, often translated as "White Bride" — the unofficial symbol of the city. Established as a modern city in 1831, it has evolved into one of Russia's premier vacation spots, with visitors drawn to its beautiful beaches and vibrant promenade. From Gelendzhik, we turn inland, climbing away from the Black Sea coast and crossing the low western ridges of the Caucasus.

Our destination is Krasnodar's Pashkovsky Airport (URKK), one of the largest airports in Russia. Krasnodar was founded in 1793 as Yekaterinodar — "Catherine's Gift" — as a military post and centre of the Kuban Cossacks. Today, it's a booming regional capital of over a million people. The airport handles a mix of domestic and international traffic and achieved a record 5 million passengers in 2021 before closing in February 2022 due to the war, then resuming operations in September 2025.

The flight is 490 miles long with 8 landings. I suggest we use a small business jet like the CJ4, the Longitude, or the Vision Jet. I will probably be in the Honda Jet. As always, please fly what you like.

The flight plans are here.  

Recommended scenery:

Mariupol UKCM

Kerch Bridge

Rostov URRP

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