Goa welcomes Russian tourists again as direct flight from Moscow resumes

Russia’s largest airline Aeroflot has resumed regular flights to Goa with an Airbus A330 arriving at the Dabolim Airport in the early hours of Thursday.

The airline will be operating three flights a week from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, thus giving a major boost to tourism and economy in the Indian state.

For decades, Goa has been one of the favourite destinations for Russian tourists in the winter season. However, first Covid-19 and then the ongoing conflict in Ukraine took a heavy toll on the arrival of tourists from Moscow.

Aeroflot is the largest Russian airline and one of the country’s most recognizable brands. The undisputed leader of Russian civil aviation and the de facto national carrier carried 21.4 million people in 2021.

Not just Goa but the entire region is expected to witness a rush of tourists from Moscow as Aeroflot has also resumed flights to Colombo (October 9) and Bangkok (October 30).

Founded in 1923, the Russian flagship carrier carried out the first flight on the Moscow-Delhi-Moscow route on August 18, 1958 on the domestic liner Tu-104.

India was also the first country in Southeast Asia with which the Soviet Union established air communication and the traffic volumes continued to increase sharply with each passing decade.

After February 24 – the day Russia began its special military operation in Ukraine – several countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have included the Russian airline in their sanctions list.

However, analysts believe that, even as the conflict in Ukraine continues to escalate, the resumption of direct flights between Russia and India is another big indicator of the development of strong relations between both countries.

On Tuesday, while participating at an event organised by the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Russian Trade Representative in India Alexander Rybas noted the unprecedented growth in trade between Russia and India this year, which already in August amounted to more than 18 billion US dollars compared to $13.5 billion for all of last year.

Also Read: Russian tourists to return to Goan beaches this winter as Aeroflot announces resumption of flights