The government is discussing the possibility of resuming flights to several new foreign destinations, Izvestia sources in the air transportation industry told.
On Tuesday, August 18, at a meeting of the operational headquarters of the Federal Air Transport Agency and Rospotrebnadzor, it was instructed to work out the possibility of opening flights with France, Hungary, Malta, Cyprus, Jordan, Egypt (only flights to Cairo) and China (resumption of flights only to Shanghai), said the source ” Izvestia “in one of the major Russian airlines. The information was also confirmed by a source at one of the airports.
By the end of last week, the final decision on the resumption of flights had not been made, but it could be formed by the next meeting of the operational headquarters on 25 August.
Russia closed international flights at the end of March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Until August, only export flights were carried out to deliver Russian and foreign citizens to their homeland, as well as single Aeroflot flights to Frankfurt, Rome, London and other major cities for persons with a residence permit in the countries of arrival.
Since August 1, the Russian authorities have resumed regular flights with London, Istanbul and Tanzania. On August 10, direct flights from Russia to the Turkish resorts of Antalya, Dalaman and Bodrum were opened. And since August 15, regular flights have been restored with Switzerland (not part of the European Union). True, not everyone can fly there: entry into the country is allowed only for holders of a residence permit.
The Federal Air Transport Agency declined to comment on the resumption of international air traffic – it is being discussed within the framework of the operational headquarters to combat the spread of coronavirus. Rospotrebnadzor forwarded Izvestia’s questions to the operational headquarters. Tatyana Golikova’s spokesman said that there are currently no new solutions to resume international flights.
Izvestia sources in the airlines and airports believe that even the opening of all international destinations, which were discussed at the operational headquarters on Tuesday, will not significantly affect the income of airlines and airports.
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