Aeroflot to Accept Digital Rubles for Ticket Purchases Starting September 2026
Aeroflot will begin accepting digital rubles for the purchase of airline tickets starting 1 September 2026. The new payment option will be available both on the carrier’s website and at its own sales offices across Russia.
When buying a ticket online, passengers will be offered the choice “Digital ruble”. The site will then generate a QR code that must be scanned inside a bank application supporting the new form of currency. After confirmation, funds are debited from the digital wallet on the Bank of Russia platform and the ticket is issued with an electronic receipt sent to the customer’s email.
The process closely resembles payments made through the Fast Payments System (SBP) and does not require passengers to carry any physical form of digital cash to the airport. At Aeroflot ticket offices the same QR-code mechanism will appear on the cashier terminal for the customer to scan and authorise.
To use the service travellers must open a digital wallet with a bank already connected to the Bank of Russia digital-ruble platform. Existing bank cards and other payment methods will continue to be accepted without change.
On the same date MTS will begin accepting digital rubles for services linked to MTS Pay. Rostelecom and Megafon have also confirmed they are preparing their systems for the new currency. Authorities have reiterated that the digital ruble is not a cryptocurrency but the third official form of the Russian national currency alongside cash and non-cash money.
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