South Korea opens the summer tourist season. The country predicts that the tourist flow from Russia this year will exceed the pre-pandemic year of 2019.

The tour operator Anex Tour announced the start of sales of package tours to South Korea on July 25. Departures will be carried out by regular flights on the route Moscow - Seoul.

From April 20, IrAero Airlines will start operating special charter flights between Vladivostok and Seoul (IO-881). According to the schedule on the carrier's website, four flights are scheduled for April.

From April 1, 2022, an agreement on the mutual abolition of visa requirements between the Republic of Korea and Russia comes into force.

S7 was forced to partially reduce the flight program due to the imposed sanctions and cancel some flights to international destinations, the carrier's telegram channel reported on March 3. The adjustments affected Egypt, Thailand and South Korea.

The Russian anti-coronavirus crisis center said that restrictions on regular and charter flight travel from Russia to the number of abroad destinations will be lifted on August 27.

Aeroflot will resume regular flights from Moscow to the capital of South Korea – Seoul from October 1. The flights will be operated once a week.

The Russian government may soon approve the resumption of international flights to the Republic of Korea and the Maldives. The national air carrier Aeroflot already offers tickets for the flights to South Korea and the Maldives in its online booking system.

In Seoul, it was difficult to name a date for the renewal of the agreement with Russia on the mutual cancellation of visa requirements, which was suspended on April 13 due to the coronavirus pandemic. But South Korea expects this to happen soon.

Aeroflot reduces the number of flights to China, South Korea, Vietnam and Italy in March due to lower demand from passengers, the company said.

Russian airline S7 plans to continue operating charter flights between Russia and South Korea by at least mid-March.

Bookings of tours to South Korea have fallen sharply since late January after the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic in China. Rostourism and Rospotrebnadzor recommended Russian citizens to refrain from traveling to this country, as well as to Iran and Italy, where the infection also spreads.

Following the results of 2019, 342 987 tourist visits of Russian citizens were recorded in South Korea, which is 13,4% more than in 2018.

The first Korea Aero Summit (KAS) is scheduled for 4th - 5th March, 2020 in Seoul, Republic of Korea. KAS 2020, a two-day event, will serve as a platform where all the stakeholders in commercial aviation could connect, network and discuss the present and the future of the Korean air travel industry. The theme of this year’s event is: Re-Imagine the Commercial Aviation Industry in Korea.

The Russian tourist flow to South Korea for the first 6 months of 2018 increased by 15.4%. As reported in the National Office of Tourism of Republic of Korea (NTO) in Russia, according to preliminary data for the first half (January-June) period of 2018 the country was visited by more than 153 thousand Russians.

“South Korean airline Korean Air resumed regular direct flights between St. Petersburg and Seoul since April 19”, - the press service of LLC "Air gates of the northern capital" informs. During the summer season, the frequency of flights will vary from three to five per week. Flights on the route St. Petersburg - Seoul will be carried out until October 25. From April 19 to May 29, as well as from October 1 to October 25 there will be three flights per week: on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. From May 31 till September 30 the frequency of flights will reach five per week due to additional flights on Fridays and Saturdays. Flights will be performed by A330 liners with three classes of service. Korean Air carries out over 460 flights per day between 124 cities in 43 countries. The fleet consists of 175 airplane, including 10 A380 airliners. Korean Air is one of the founders of the global aviation alliance SkyTeam.

The Russian tourist flow to South Korea in January-March 2018 grew by almost 14%. Tour operators forecast that the demand for the direction in the spring-summer period will be even more active, first off all thanks to the advertising campaign, organized by the National Tourism Office of the Republic of Korea in Russia (NUTC).

According to the winter schedule, Aurora Airlines (part of the Aeroflot group) will fly in 45 destinations to the cities of the Far East and Siberia, as well as to Japan, Republic of Korea and China.

“The demand for tours to South Korea this autumn increased by 30% an average due to the active work of the National Tourism Organization of Korea (NOTC) to promote the country and the upcoming Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang”, - according to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR). "The leading tour operators, working with South Korean direction, note a significant increase in bookings for tours to the country this autumn.

North Korea can attract Russian tourists, as this is a very exotic direction, but it will never become massive - last year the tourist flow amounted 423 Russians”, - said the press-secretary of the Russian Travel Industry Union (RCT) Irina Tyurina. She noted that tourists can visit this country only through a travel agency. "There is a category of tourists who go with interest to see socialism there. The number of them is very small and mostly they are residents of Primorye and the Far East regions.

“Korean Air has resumed direct flights between Seoul and Irkutsk since April 24, 2017”, - the carrier's press service reported. The flight KE983 departs from Seoul at 17:55 on Mondays and Fridays and arrives to Irkutsk at 21:15. The return flight departs from Irkutsk at 23:55 and arriving Seoul at 4:45 the next day.

“Yakutia airline will perform charter flights from Vladivostok to Yangyang (South Korea) sonce May 3”, - follows from the schedule of the "Vladivostok" airport website. Flights will be carried out weekly on Wednesdays by Sukhoi Superjet 100 liner. In early April, Yakutia airline has started regular flights from Vladivostok to Cheongju (South Korea). In summer season 4 - 6 flights to South Korea are performed daily from Vladivostok. In 2016 the passenger traffic from Vladivostok airport to South Korean direction has grown by 18% against 2015.

“Korean Air (South Korea) has resumed regular flights between Seoul and St. Petersburg since April 20”, - the carrier's press service reported. The KE930 flight from St. Petersburg is performed on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Departure from the international airport "Pulkovo" is at 23:00, arrival to Seoul - at 13:40 (13:50 from June 1) the next day.

“Yakutia” airline started regular flights from Vladivostok to Cheongju (South Korea)”, - the press service of the Russian airport reported. The flights are carried out weekly on Saturdays by Sukhoi Superjet 100, flight time is 2 hours. "In the summer season, 4 - 6 flights are performed daily from Vladivostok to South Korea.

South Korean flag carrier canceled five direct services between Vladivostok and Seoul. Korean air was offering seven weekly flights between two cities. However, the airline decided to cancel five of them during the peak tourist season due to a drop in passenger traffic from both Russian and Korean sides. Since the introduction of visa-free regime between Russia and South Korea in early 2014, Primorye residents started to travel to Korea more frequently. However more and more people have been refusing to visit Korea due to MERS outbreak. According to Korean Tourist Organization, more than 95 thousand foreign visitors have already canceled their trips to the country.