Flights and tourist traffic from Russia amidst pandemic (weekly update)

Aeroflot Airlines will resume flights to Nice from 20 November. Flights will be operated once a week on Fridays.

Since July 20, French visa application centers have been opened. But tourists can’t get visas yet.

The date of the resumption of work of visa centers in Europe is still largely unclear.

In order to quickly restore tourist flow from Russia, European countries thought about easing the visa regime. The most active in this matter are the European countries, which GDP largely depends on the tourism sector.

Russia is imposing restrictions on air transportation to Italy, Germany, France, and Spain.

S7 Airlines plans to launch direct flights between Moscow and Paris on April 18

Tour operators have named the TOP-5 of the best-selling European destinations this spring.

Paris is waiting for the double growth of the Russian tourist flow. It is planned to achieve these goals through a large-scale update of tourist offers in Paris.

The protests in Paris, which began last week, have not yet decreased the demand for this destination among Russian tourists.

By the end of 2019, the Russian tourist flow to France will grow by at least 10% in annual terms. Tour operators note greater dynamics of sales in one of the most popular European destinations among Russians.

Russian skiers and snowboarders spent about 200 thousand nights at the resorts of the French Alps last winter season. The resort of Three Valleys is the leader in popularity among Russian tourists.

The interest of Russian tourists in tours to France in the summer 2019 has significantly grown, tour operators reported about 10-40% increase in sales of tours compared to the same period last year.

On June 1, Russia’s largest airline, Aeroflot, launched regular flights from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo to Marseille. The route will be operated five times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays by the 140-seat A320 aircraft. According to OAG Schedules Analyser, Aeroflot will face competition from French carrier Aigle Azur twice-weekly through the carriers A320 operations (Fridays and Sundays).  

In the season-2019 the volumes of direct transportation to France increased. According to market participants, the relative stability of exchange rates and the emergence of new flights to the cities of France led to an increase in demand for sightseeing and beach tours on the destination from 5 to 100%. At the same time, tour operators have noted a good depth of sales of tours: from 3 to 5 months.  

Rossia Airline announced the launch of the flight program from Moscow to Nice. The carrier will compete with existing Aeroflot flights. According to the airline, Rossia opened the flight SU 6139 along the Moscow-Nice route from May 28. The flights are operated from Sheremetyevo daily. 

This summer, Ural Airlines will launch a new flight from Moscow to the French city of Montpellier. For the new flights, tour operators are already forming offers, including a beach holiday. Ural Airlines will significantly expand its presence on the French market this year.

Several airlines immediately announced new routes to France this year. In the summer season they will perform 15 additional flights to the south of the country a week. In this case the destination can count on the explosive growth of the tourist traffic. A workshop of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region was held in Moscow with the participation of representatives of hotels, airlines, tourist offices of cities and resorts.

At least 20 new services between Russia and France with several new routes are being launched at the start of the summer season, leading to expectations of a marked increase in the number of passengers, Rusaviainsider.com reported.  Last year, Russia and France signed an air service agreement to increase the frequency of flights between the countries from 87 up to 121 per week for regular flights. In addition, the quota for charter flights was doubled from 40 to 80 and two new French destinations, namely Montpellier and Marseille, were included in the intergovernmental air service agreement. 

Alexandra Mikheeva, the head of France department of the tour operator told about programs and plans of ANEX Tour in France. “ANEX Tour is a tour operator of mass destinations, but we are trying to expand our horizons: France has become one of our most important new products in this season.

On November 8, a joint meeting of Atout France and ANEX Tour operator, which opened sales of package tours to France, was held at French Embassy in Moscow.

“In the past two years the Russians have traveled more often to French region of Alsace. In 2017 the tourist flow grew by 68%, in the first half of 2018 - by 6%”, - said the French Ambassador to Russia Sylvie Bermann. "Last year the number of Russian tourists visited the region increased by 68%.

“Tour operators note the growing demand for budget trips to France such as Paris and the Cote d'Azur, tourists prefer longer tours in hotels of low category”, - said Irina Tyurina, the Press secretary of the Russian Tourist Industry Union (RCT). "The increase in the capital is from 15 to 25%, while sales of tours to the French Riviera grew by more than 40%.

“Russian tourists made more than 230,000 trips to the French capital in 2017, which is 51% more than a year ago”, - reported the Head of the Russian representative office of the Agency of Tourism Development in France «Atout France» Inessa Korotkova. "In Paris in 2017 we recorded 230,1 thousand Russian arrivals, 51% more than a year earlier.