It is no secret that the recovery after the COVID-19 crisis has a significant amount of challenges ahead, as countries and regions are addressing the appearance of new variants and vaccination campaigns at their own pace and capacity.
Therefore, the demand rebound that is expected for travel and holidays would need to find one of two options: either a country or region in which restrictions are light because vaccination is so broad that is safe enough for tourism reopening or a country or region in which restrictions are light because, well, money talks.
Russia has a tradition of international tourism that is focused primarily on Southeast Asia, and always looked away from Latin America. However, the situation in the pacific rim is complex for traveling as restrictions are strong. As a consequence, Russian operators are looking to the warm Caribbean and some additional destinations in the american continent to compensate for the loss of its traditional destinations.
Rosaviatsiya, Russia’s aeronautical authority, has approved the requests made by carriers to operate routes to Mexico, Venezuela, and Brazil. We disaggregate the requests by operator and country below:
Mexico:
Moscow – Cancun by Aeroflot with 7 flights per week
Moscow – Cancun by Royal Flight with 2 flights per week
Ekaterinburg – Cancun by Royal Flight with 2 flights per week
Perm – Cancun by Royal Flight with 2 flights per week
Samara – Cancun by Royal Flight with 2 flights per week
Rostov Platov – Cancun by Nordwind Airlines with 7 flights per week
St. Petersburg – Cancun by Nordwind Airlines with 7 flights per week
Kazan – Cancun by Nordwind Airlines Airlines with 4 flights per week
Currently, the only Russian airlines with flights between Russia and Mexico are Azur Air and Nordwind Airlines, which cover the Moscow – Cancun route.
Venezuela:
Moscow – Caracas operated by Azur Air with 2 flights per week
Moscow – Porlamar operated by Azur Air with 2 flights a week
Moscow – Porlamar operated by Nordwind Airlines with 7 weekly flights
Moscow – Porlamar operated by Pegas Fly with 7 flights a week
Brazil:
All routes were requested by Azur Air.
Ekaterinburg/Kotsovo (SVX) – Rio de Janeiro with one flight per week.
Kazan (KZN) – Rio de Janeiro with one weekly flight.
Moscow (VKO) – Rio de Janeiro with two weekly flights.
St. Petersburg (LED) – Rio de Janeiro with one weekly flight.