Russia resumes regular flights to Cuba

Havana, Jul 1 (RHC) Russia and Cuba resumed regular flights on Saturday, with the departure this Saturday from Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport of the first plane operated by the Rossiya airline.

The aircraft is a Boeing 777 with capacity for 457 passengers and covers the distance between Moscow and the Cuban resort of Varadero in about 13 hours. The average ticket price is around 30,000 rubles (about 340 US dollars).

Serguei Starikov, the company's spokesman, commented that the flights will take place twice a week, on Thursdays and Saturdays. Starting in September, the program will be extended to three weekly flights. Tickets can be purchased independently or as part of the tourist product of the Biblio-Globus tour operator.

The spokesman also recalled that the Rossiya airline is part of the Aeroflot group, the largest Russian civil aeronautics company.

The Russia-Cuba route is one of the oldest in the history of Aeroflot. The first regular flight to Cuba was made on July 10, 1962 with a Tu-114.

Air links between the two countries were interrupted during the Covid-19 pandemic and after the restrictions imposed by European countries on Russia, due to the conflict in Ukraine.

In May, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Chernyshenko declared that Russia would resume regular flights with Cuba as of July 1. He pointed out that the corresponding directive was given to the Aeroflot company.

According to his estimates, the flow of Russian tourists to Cuba due to the resumption of regular and charter flights may exceed the pre-pandemic level and reach more than 150,000 people.

In February of this year, the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency reported that Russian airlines will be able to carry out flights to Venezuela landing in Cuba. According to the agency, in practice this will mean that Russian airlines will be able to fly on the Moscow-Varadero-Porlamar route, and Venezuelan airlines on the Caracas-Havana-Moscow route. (Source: PL)