Getting to Kamchatka
Last Updated
22nd Jan, 2009
You may only know where Kamchatka is from playing the board game Risk years ago. Now that you want great fishing you will need to find out the best way to get there. The following suggestions will get you started. A bit more research, or the assistance of a good travel agent, should be able to turn these into a concrete plan.
At the time of writing, it was possible to get a return ticket for the summer of 2009 for under 1500 USD, including all taxes.
If you are booking your flights yourself, be sure you know which day is which; it is easy to get confused with the change of time zones, especially if flying from the USA, across the International Date Line.
For easy to use websites, check prices with the following at least:
Most travellers will have heard of Aeroflot. Another Russian airline worth considering, especially as they do operate Airbuses into Kamchatka, are Siberian Airlines. This latter outfit are developing a brand around their airline code, S7.
The flight time plus stopovers plus the change in time zones means that you are likely to arrive on the 2nd day after leaving when flying eastbound. Amazingly, you can arrive the same day when flying back again.
Our fishing holidays start on a Tuesday which means you should be able to leave on a Saturday and arrive on a Monday. This would leave you needing to book another night's accommodation but would mean that you were fresh for the start of the activities. If time is precious then you could leave on the Sunday and arrive just in time. Itineraries end on a Friday so you should easily be able to get back home again, in time for work on Monday morning if necessary.
You may need to be a bit creative when checking options. Sometimes it will be better to plan to spend a night in a hotel than to spend a long period waiting at an airport.
Luggage allowances
Flights from the US often have a luggage allowance of two bags. This is not standard in Europe and Asia so check that your ticket shows this allowance on all sections if you plan to take more than the otherwise standard 20 Kg (though usually you can get away with up to 24 Kg before paying an excess fee).
Map
Click here for a Google Map showing the main locations mentioned below
From Moscow
There are direct flights from Moscow (MOW) to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (PKC). The main issues for you will be:
- whether they are at a suitable time to connect with your international flight into Moscow;
- whether they leave from the same airport, and give you time to change if necessary; and
- whether you can manage to get a ticket at a reasonable rate from outside of Russia.
This is where we recommend you keep it simple. Either book a connecting series of flights with the same ticket issuer, or use the services of a good travel agent.
Alternate domestic routes
If your dates don't work out for a direct flight from Moscow (MOW) to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (PKC) then you will need to look at a change of flights somewhere in Russia. Your best option is likely to be a change at Khabarovsk (KHV) or Vladivostok (VVO).
Flights from the USA
I have read about flights via Alaska but cannot find any details. I have checked with several search engines and these do not show up. A local agent with full access to the flight booking system may have better luck.
I also read of flights from Incheon (Seoul's airport: code ICN) but again found no details.
Either of these routes could save a huge amount of travel time, though I did see cheap flights from, say, New York to Moscow so the actual savings may not be so great by comparison.
If anyone finds details of flights along these or other routes, could they let me know. Thanks, Ian