On October 27 2017 was launched a charter connection from Russia to the capital of UAE by airplanes of AZUR air Earlier Russian tour operators used flights of regular foreign carriers for air transportation to Abu Dhabi from Russia. AZUR air airline has started the flight charter program on October 27, 2017.

AZUR Air is expanding the flight program to United Arab Emirates. Charter flights on the route Moscow - Abu Dhabi - Moscow are scheduled from October 24 with a frequency of two times a week. Flights will be performed to Abu Dhabi International Airport by Boeing 737-800.

The volume of air transportation to the resorts of UAE from St. Petersburg will be seriously increased in the forthcoming winter season. Three charter chains of tour operators are announced from the city. So, from October 8 twice a week will start the flights to Sharjah on the airplanes of Rossiya airline, which are consolidated by Biblio-Globus.

On September 27 Azur Air airline has launched its first regular flight from Moscow to United Arab Emirates. The airplane of Azur Air landed at Dubai International Airport with 188 passengers on board at 16:35 of local time. The daily scheduled flights on the route Moscow - Dubai - Moscow are carried out by Boeing 737-800.

“The volumes of transportation from the cities of Russia to UAE in the upcoming winter season may significantly exceed the figures of the previous year”, - according to the data of Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR). In particular Emirates airline will launch from Moscow to Dubai two flights a day by A380, which will increase the transportation capacity for more than 1,000 passenger-places a week.

“The number of Russian tourists who visited Dubai for seven months of 2017, thanks to the abolition of visas, increased by 96% against the same period of the last year – up to 245 thousand people”, - said the representative of the Department of Tourism and Commercial Marketing of Dubai. According to statistics for seven months of 2017, the total number of foreign tourists staying in Dubai for no less than one night amounted 9.2 million people, which is 9.5% more than in the same period of the last year.

So, Coral Travel tour operator informed that in addition to Moscow tourists will be able to fly to the Emirates from 13 cities of Russia, five of them are the new one - Chelyabinsk, Kaliningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm and Tyumen. In the company this decision is justified by high demand, including early booking, as well as simplification of visa regime with UAE, favorable prices offers from hotels and one of the shortest beach destinations flight for the winter season.

“Over 230,000 tourists from Russia visited Dubai in the first half of 2017, which is 97% more than in the same period a year earlier”, - the Dubai Tourism and Commercial Marketing Department reported. "Strategic changes in the way of entry into UAE, according to which the citizens of China and Russia are able to receive a visa just after arrival, continue to confirm their effectiveness.

“Dubai airline FlyDubai will perform flights from Dubai to Makhachkala and Voronezh according to the upcoming winter schedule and will resume flights to Ufa”, - informs the carrier's press service. Flights from Dubai to Makhachkala and Voronezh will be performed twice a week from October 31, 2017 and October 29, 2017, respectively.

“Emirates airline will perform two daily flights Dubai-Moscow-Dubai since October 1 2017 by the world's largest passenger airplane Airbus A380”, - the company's press service reported. "Replacing of the type of aircraft will significantly increase the capacity of the route and meet the growing demand from customers", - the report said.

“Among all emirates of UAE Dubai, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah are the leading summer destinations for Russian tourists”, - reported Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) with reference to market participants. Since February 2017, Russians can obtain visa instantaneously after arriving to the country.

According to the Office of Tourism and Culture of Abu Dhabi, in April this year the number of tourists from Russia increased by 70%, and the number of nights increased by 86% against the same month of the last year. A comparative analysis of statistical data over the past 4 years has shown that April 2017 figures not only reached the pre-crisis (2014) level, but exceeded it (by visitors + 28%, by nights + 13%).

During the first three months of this year, 126 thousand tourists have arrived Dubai from Russia, which is 106% more than in the same period of the last year. The Russians took the first place in the growth dynamics of the tourist flow. They are followed by citizens of China, who showed 64% growth.

It is noted both by the sources of the tourist market in UAE and the Russian tour operators. It probably concerns with the reorientation of the Egyptian tourist traffic. The prices for accommodation in hotels in the United Arab Emirates are held at the last year's level and are declining in some cases, despite the growth of demand.

Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) of Dubai has closed its Russian office from January 1. In addition, the agency is now called "Dubai Tourism".

The UAE government’s announcement about granting visas on arrival for Russians will boost visitor numbers to the country, tourism executives said on Monday. Russian visitors can now be issued a 30-day visa on arrival that can be renewed for another 30 days. The effective date and cost of the visa is not immediately available. Travel agents are known to charge anywhere between Dh350 for a one-month visa and Dh1,200 for a three-month visa with an average of two days waiting period. "Russian travellers normally make a decision for travelling abroad at the last moment and a visa on arrival will help to choose the UAE as vacation destination and increase arrivals," said Edward Grigoriev, the country manager for Russia and CIS markets at Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority.

Russian holidaymakers are returning to Dubai hotels as the rebounding rouble boosts their purchasing power. Travellers from Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) are making a comeback, Dubai hoteliers say. And this is helping to increase occupancy in properties across the emirate over the holiday season. The rouble has gained 19 per cent against the US dollar since January, making it the world’s best-performing currency so far this year.

On Friday, November 18, it became known that the company Coral Travel has decided to terminate its charter flights from Perm to Dubai. Such decision the tour operator explains by low loading of this direction. “The airline company Royal Flight (which main customer is Coral Travel) will perform the last flight to Dubai on November 28”, according to "Kommersant-Prikamye" news agency.

“United Arab Emirates Ras al-Khaimah is the second best in popularity among the Russian tourists. The first is Dubai”, - said the Director General of Tourism Development Department of the Emirate of Haitham Mattar at the "Leisure" exhibition.

According to tour operators, the summer tourist flow to UAE has increased this year in three - four times - said the Russian Association of Tour Operators (ATOR) on Friday. According to tourist industry’s representatives, the closure of Egypt and Turkey affects on the demand. The increase of sales to United Arab Emirates in 3-4 times was noted in the company "PAKS".

Experts say that it is too far from the sea. “Deputy Prime Minister of UAE Sheikh Mohammed launches the "City of the Future» - Jumeirah Central in Dubai”, - informed the local newspaper “The National”. The cost of the project - which includes construction of residential facilities for 35 thousand people and 7,200 hotel rooms - more than 20 billion dollars.