Russia to Reopen Airspace to India, Finland, Qatar, and Vietnam

The Russian Government had decided to open its air space to allow flights from India, Qatar, Finland, and Vietnam to resume operations after about a year of temporary restrictions, which was adopted to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This new development was announced in a tweet by the Russian Embassy in New Delhi on Tuesday that the entry restrictions imposed on the citizens of India, Finland, Qatar, and Vietnam has been relaxed, which amounted to the fact that only passengers with Russian residence permits can now return to the country (citizens were always allowed to return). However, other visa holders, including tourism and business, remain banned from traveling to Russia.

Due to the recent advancement in the ways to curb the excesses of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that these countries (India, Finland, Qatar, and Vietnam) have been able to manage it effectively. Reducing the high risks of their citizens contracting the disease. Currently, Finland and Qatar record around 500 cases daily, while India has around 12,000 daily. Meanwhile, Vietnam is one of the few countries globally that has gone without local cases for months. With analysis based on their population, these four countries currently have very few cases per their population and are still working to reduce it to the barest minimum.

Many other airlines have plans to resume fully as the world is adapting to living with the pandemic while economic activities keep growing worldwide. Some of them are waiting for the rollout of vaccines to help demand for international traffic bounce back. With countries already plotting dropping quarantines for vaccinated passengers, 2021 could signal a much stronger recovery for airlines. However, the coming months will remain difficult as borders remain shut and demand stays low.

The Russian government has already announced that Aeroflot will fly to four destinations, Delhi, Hanoi, Doha, and Helsinki, from Moscow. All these flights will operate twice a week, except Moscow-Doha, which will fly thrice a week.

According to the Russian news agency, TASS, Aeroflot’s frequencies could increase depending on international flights’ demand. Tickets on the four mentioned routes are now available on Aeroflot’s website to book. Aeroflot will operate all four routes and not one of its growing subsidiaries.