The Russian Ministry of Economic Development is negotiating the launch of direct flights to a number of African countries, including Zimbabwe and Namibia, as well as some South American countries. In addition, the ministry is looking into launching charter flights to North Korea, Maya Lomidze, executive director of the Association of Tour Operators in Russia (ATOR), told Sputnik in an interview.
"The Ministry of Economic Development is actively negotiating the opening of direct air routes with various countries. Since the beginning of the year, there have been repeated plans for the possible launch of flights to Zimbabwe, Namibia, some South American countries. There were even plans to organize charter flights to North Korea. But it is difficult to say which of the above will actually materialize," Lomidze said.
In mid-March, Nikita Kondratyev, Director of the Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, revealed that Russia plans to launch direct flights with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Indonesia and the Philippines in 2024.
Assessing the popularity of these destinations, the head of ATOR said: "Russians fly to Kuwait in transit on Jazeera flights. Since this country requires a visa, and it is not easy to issue it, at this stage Kuwait is not a very interesting country for mass tourism from Russia".
"But Russia is actively discussing plans to open direct flights with Indonesia. But as practice shows, our tourists fly there willingly, even with connections: last year the number of Russian tourists in Indonesia exceeded the indicators of pre-pandemic 2019, reaching 150,000 from 125,000 people," she added.