The Government of the Russian Federation held the meeting of the Intergovernmental commission chaired by Igor Shuvalov, First Deputy Prime Minister, on the issues of air transport industry. In the interests of the development of the commercial aviation and creating one of the largest in the world group of airlines, the commission has approved the acquisition of JSC Transaero Airlines by Aeroflot group. The shareholders of Transaero Airlines believe this measure will serve the interests of passengers, personnel and partners of the airline. The Chairman of the meeting has highly appreciated the role of the founders, managers and all the personnel of Transaero Airlines in the modern history of the commercial aviation of the country.

Mikhail Piotrovsky, the Hermitage museum director-general believes that other Russian museums are likely to face similar problems. Police will stop guarding the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg in November because of the forthcoming lay-offs at the Russian Interior Ministry, Mikhail Piotrovsky, president of the Russian Museums’ Union and the Hermitage museum director-general, said on Tuesday.

The Association of Russian Tour Operators said the devaluating ruble had caused a 50% decline in Russian outbound tourism since December 2014. Russia’s outbound tourism has decreased by 30% this year, according to the European Commission for Tourism. Eastern Europe has lost almost half of Russian tourists since the start of 2015, the Russian Union of Travel Industry reported on Wednesday referring to Russian tour operators.

Continued fall of the ruble has led not only to a decrease in sales of international trips, but also to the abandonment of partially paid tours, according to the press secretary of the Russian Union of Travel Industry Irina Turina. "Many customers who have made a pre-payment for the tour and now have to pay the remaining part, try to cancel their trips.

The Visa Department of the German Embassy in Moscow will not work on September 11, changes are made in the schedule of work of visa centers in a number of Russian cities due to the launch of the Visa Information System (EID) of Schengen countries on September 14, according to the German Embassy in Russia. In addition, the reception of visa applications in the center of Kazan, Krasnodar, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Samara and Saratov in the period from 14 September to 9 October this year will be by appointment only.

The new general director of tour operator MULTITUR is Dmitry Sharov, the press service of the company reported D.Sharov works in Multitur since 2006. He worked operator, head of sales department, the executive director of the company. Previously CEO of MULTITUR was Alexey Vysokanov, who will remain head advisor of the tour operator, but will focus on the work in the management company Atelika.

Russian tour operators do not have debts to the air carriers for the organization of charter flights, airline officials said at a meeting held on Tuesday in Federal Tourism Agency. The meeting was attended by the heads the Federal Tourism Agency, representatives of the association Tourpomosch, the Ministry of Transport and representatives of the airlines Transaero, Aeroflot, UTair, Taimyr, and Orenburg airlines.

The number of consulates and visa centers of the participating countries of the Schengen agreement in Russia may be increased, if necessary, according to the head of the EU Delegation in Moscow, Vygaudas Usackas. "The countries, participants of the Schengen agreement, have an extensive network of consulates and visa centers throughout Russia. This enables them to almost completely cover the demand for Schengen visas. If it will be needed, we might increase the number of visa centers in Russia," he said in an interview to Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

Referring to the representatives of travel industry, Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) does not expect big demand for a second international passport for Russians. Although, the service will be in demand by certain categories of tourists. "The second passport is necessary for businessmen, journalists, in other words, for frequent travelers as well as for citizens living in several countries," the PR-director of TEZ Tour Company Larissa Akhanova said.

Insurance company Lloyd-City, which license was suspended by the Central Bank of Russia in June, may be declared bankrupt, the head of the Legislative Department of the Federal Tourism Agency Izo Arakhamia said to Interfax. "We have already informed all insured by Lloyd-City tour operators and recommended them to consider other reinsurance companies", Izo Arakhamia said.

In June 2015: - Transaero carried 1,511,883 passengers, a 5.5% increase over June 2014. - Passenger load factor increased by 3% and reached 87.3%. - Passenger traffic on domestic routes grew by 65.8%.

In the nearest future, Russians will fly abroad with a passport with an electronic chip, according to the head of the Federal Migration Service Konstantin Romodanovsky. "We are ready to start almost an identity card of the citizen of the Russian Federation with the electronic data. It takes time to solve a number of organizational issues," Konstantin Romodanovsky said on Wednesday at a press conference at the central office of Interfax.

Russian tour operators started optimizing their transportation programs to Greece because of the reduction in demand against the backdrop of economic problems, the press secretary of the Russian Union of Travel Industry Irina Tyurina said to Interfax.

Tour operator Gold Line announced the suspension of operations, according to the press service of the Federal Tourism Agency. The company's website says that the suspension of operations is related to damages that the tour operator has suffered due to lower demand for tours. According to information of TourDom, there is no one tourist of Gold Line abroad, and only 2-3 are in the tours in Russia. The representatives of Gold Line insured the journalists of TourDom that they do their best to fullfil their obligations.

Orenburg airlines (Orenair, a company of Aeroflot) decided to optimize its fleet due to the reduction of the tourism market and reduced demand for air travel in the country, according to the report of the company to Interfax. According to the annual report of Orenburg airlines, in coordination with Aeroflot, the decision was made to postpone deliveries of new aircraft and to reduce the time of return of other aircrafts. Since the beginning of the year, as part of the fleet optimization program, 9 aircrafts Boeing-737 were taken out of service and returned to the leasing companies.

A deputy of the fraction United Russia Vitaly Milonov sent to the head of the Federal Tourism Agency Oleg Safonov a proposal to develop a code of behavior of Russian tourists abroad, according to the Russian newspaper Izvestia. Rules should be developed separately for each popular tourism destination, the deputy said. He noted that the Russians, being on holiday abroad, are often not familiar with the traditions of the country and do not know about established norms of behavior. As a result, they often find themselves in absurd, or even dangerous situations.

Moscow State Institute of International Relations (Russia's most prestigious educational institution for young people with international interests, the same time the University of the Russian Foreign Ministry) and online travel service Anywayanyday signed an agreement on global cooperation, according to the press department of the company. "The agreement between the university and the company assumes both studies and internships for students. The initiator of the cooperation of the University became the Faculty of Applied Economics and Commerce," the statement says.

From July 9, insurance company Soglasie starts paying tourists of tour operator Travelsystem. Financial guarantee of tour operator will be enough for 80% of the required payment, the press secretary of the Russian Union of Travel Industry Irina Turina commented to Interfax. The company Soglasie insured financial responsibility of tour operator Travelsystem (legal entity LLC NeoLayn Tour).

The Russian airports' VIP-passengers will now be standing in the general queue at passport control and pre-flight inspection, according to the newspaper Kommersant with reference to the decision of the Federal Security Service (FSB). According to the publication, FSB insists at the closing of these offices, alleging the illegality of such services.

Because of repair works at the Moscow railway, the timetable of Aeroexpress to/from Domodedovo airport is changed, the press department of Aeroexpress informed. The changes will affect the following dates in July: the nights from 17 to 18; from 18 to 19; from 24 to 25; and from 25 to 26, the report said. So, in this period, the trains from Paveletsky railway station to Domodedovo airport at 22:30; 23:00 23:30; 00:00; 00:30 are cancelled. The trains from Domodedovo airport to Paveletsky railway station at 23:00; 23:30; 00:00; 6:00 are cancelled.

Aeroflot - Russian Airlines can combine their airline subsidiaries under a single brand, as the head of Aeroflot Vitaly Saveliev said at the shareholders meeting on Monday. "We have such a strategy: the premium segment remains for the Aeroflot. Meanwhile, we will increase the amount of low-cost transportation and reduce the volume of the middle part.

The EU hopes under certain conditions to return to a dialogue with the Russian Federation on the introduction of visa-free regime, the head of the EU Delegation in Russia Vygaudas Usackas said on Wednesday. These negotiations (on the visa-free regime with the Russian Federation) stopped for obvious reasons, but we hope that, under certain conditions, we will continue them," he said at a briefing in Moscow, answering the question of "Interfax".

On June 22, 2015 the presentation of the joint project of the Amur Tiger Center and Transaero Airlines was held at Moscow Vnukovo airport. The project is aimed at drawing attention to the issues of environmental protection and conservation of rare and endangered species.Within the project called "Tiger flight", the Transaero’s Boeing 747-400 aircraft (accommodating 447 passengers) has acquired some features of a tiger.

Russian Tourism Agency and Aerofuels group of companies signed an agreement to provide discounts on fuel for Russian air carriers flying within the country, the Federal Tourism Agency website said on Friday. Memorandum of cooperation was signed at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Some foreign airlines are about to leave the Russian market under the current conditions of reduction in demand for international transportation, and some airlines reduce the flight programs, the deputy head of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation Valery Okulov said on transportation forum in Novosibirsk on Wednesday.