RUSSIA: S7 Airlines To Commence Flights To Omsk From Saint Petersburg

S7 Airlines, a member of the global airline alliance oneworld®, will launch a new flight route between Saint Petersburg and Omsk from 3 July 2018. Air tickets for this new flight are already on sale.

S7 Airline flights are scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The flight from Pulkovo Airport leaves at 20:35 and lands in Omsk at 03:05 local time the next day. The return flight departs at 04:05 and arrives in Saint Petersburg at 05:10. The flights will operate on modern Airbus A319 aircraft.

We’ve noticed increased demand for flights between these two cities. The new flight route will appeal to passengers from Omsk who enjoy city breaks and excursions and plan to spend a few days of their summer vacation in Saint Petersburg.

The comfort and convenience of the new flight will be much appreciated by Saint Petersburg residents who need to take part in negotiations with business partners or visit relatives and friends in Omsk notes Igor Veretennikov, Commercial Director of the S7 group of companies.

Omsk is the second most populated city in Siberia and is an important center for refining crude oil and the chemical industry.

Flight time from St. Petersburg to Omsk is a little over three hours.

S7 Priority members will be able to receive from 800 frequent flyer miles per flight. Accumulated S7 Priority miles can be used to buy premium airline tickets, as well as additional services purchased on the web site s7.ru and at departure airports.

Air tickets can be purchased at s7.ru, through the iPhone app or the Android app, and at any S7 sales office. You can also learn accurate flight information, book and buy tickets by calling our Contact Centre at 8 800 700–0707 (free for Russia).


Tourism Observer

UNITED KINGDOM: Rossiya Airbus Wheel Traps Worker's Foot

Rossiya Airbus A319-100, performing flight from London Gatwick to Saint Petersburg, was being pushed back for departure when the aircraft was stopped.

Emergency services staff responded to attend to a ground worker, who became trapped with his foot under one of the aircraft’s wheels.

Emergency services released the man and airlifted the ground worker with serious injuries to a hospital.

The aircraft was subsequently returned to the gate, the passengers disembarked.

The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in Gatwick about 6 hours later.

The airport reported an incident took place in which a ground worker received injuries.

Meanwhile, LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 787-800, performing flight from Mexico to Poland, was enroute over the Atlantic Ocean when the crew needed to shut one of the engines down.

The aircraft diverted to New York JFK and landed safely on New York’s runway 04L about 2:15 hours later.

The crew advised no further assistance was needed and taxied to the apron.

A replacement Boeing 787-800 registration SP-LRB departed about 3 hours after landing of SP-LRF and reached Warsaw with a delay of about 5 hours.

The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in New York about 91 hours after landing.



Tourism Observer

NORWAY: Norwegian Air To resume Guadeloupe Islands Flights

Norwegian Air will resume its seasonal winter service to the Guadeloupe Islands for a third consecutive season. Nonstop flights from New York (JFK), Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Providence (PVD) to Guadeloupe (PTP) will begin on October 29th 2017.

Service will be significantly increased out of New York with six weekly flights (everyday but Wednesday). Flights will operate three times a week out of Fort Lauderdale and twice weekly out of Providence to Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe.

Tickets are now available for purchase at norwegian.com/us with fares as low as $79 one-way, taxes included.


New York (JFK): EVERY DAY BUT WEDNESDAYS – Departure time JFK – PTP: 2:10 pm
Fort Lauderdale (FLL): Tues. Thur. and Sat. – Departure time FLL – PTP: 3:35 pm
Providence (PVD): Thur. and Sun. – Departure time: 4:55 pm

S7 Airlines and Cyprus Airways have concluded an agreement for the performance of codeshare flights.

Now, passengers of S7 Airlines will be able to travel by codeshare flights of S7 Airlines and Cyprus Airlines from Saint Petersburg to Larnaca. The flights will be performed beginning from 8 June 2017 three times a week.

On Wednesdays and Fridays, the flights will depart from the Pulkovo airport at 05:05 and arrive at the Larnaca airport — at 09:45, on Sundays — departure at 01:50, arrival — at 06:30.

The flights from Larnaca will depart on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 20:10 and arrive in Saint Petersburg at 00:55.

This schedule will be convenient for passengers from Saint Petersburg travelling to Cyprus for a vacation.

An early arrival at the Larnaca airport and evening departure to Saint Petersburg will allow the passengers to get the most of their time in Cyrpus, without losing the day of departure and arrival.

The concluded codeshare agreement will also enable passengers from Saint Petersburg to travel to the Greek Islands of Rhodes or Crete with a connection at the Larnaca airport, the hub of Cyprus Airways.

The flights will be performed on the Airbus A319 modern aircraft of the Cyrprus Airways fleet. The aircraft is designed to carry 144 passengers in a comfortable economy class cabin.

The Icelandic airline WOW, on June 2, 2017, launched a direct route linking Reykjavik with Belgian capital, Brussels.

WOW flies from Reykjavik to Brussels seven times a week. Passengers will board an A321 aircraft for a flight that lasts 3 hour and 30 minutes. Roundtrip ticket prices start at 190$ including airport fees and transaction costs.

WOW air is a low-fare, long-haul airline based in Iceland. The airline was founded in November 2011 and serves 33 destinations across Europe, North America and Asia.

RUSSIA: Metro Explosion In St Petersburg Kills Ten

10 people were killed Monday in a blast on the metro system of Russia's second city Saint Petersburg.

According to the first preliminary data, around ten people were killed, after the Saint Petersburg metro said that an unidentified object had blown up in a train carriage.

The Tass and Interfax agencies reported the blast hit at the Sennaya Ploshchad metro station, which left a number of victims.

Images posted on social media showed a train carriage with its doors blown out and damage inside.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is in the city, has been informed, Russian media say.

The cause of the explosion is not yet known. Russian news agencies said there may have been two blasts, with a second at the nearby Institute of Technology station.

Meanwhile the explosion hit the metro system of Russia's second city Saint Petersburg on Monday, the firm running it said, after an unidentified object blew up in a train.

"An evacuation from the stations is ongoing, there are people injured," the Saint Petersburg metro said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies. "An unidentified object supposedly blew up in a (train) carriage."

INDIA: Kerala Tourism Eyes 12% Growth In Tourist Arrivals

Kerala government is aiming for a 10-12% growth in domestic and foreign tourist arrivals and exploring new source markets like East Asia and Russia for tourism opportunities.

"Last year has been a difficult year for the tourism industry and we achieved a flat or marginal growth compared to 2014. This year and in 2017, we are expecting double-digit growth (about 10-12%) in tourist arrivals," Kerala Tourism Deputy Director Nandakumar K P told PTI here.

In 2015, as many as 7,75,390 foreign tourists visited Kerala from January-October, a growth of 6.60%. Last year, 76,71,277 domestic tourists visited the southern state from January-August, a growth of 7.40%, according to government data.

The state, which is facing competition from Sri Lanka and South Asian countries, is planning to attract tourists by branding 'Kerala: the home of Ayurveda'.

"We are exploring new markets like Russia, East Asia, China and Japan, besides focusing on strengthening the traditional markets like the European Union and the US. For wooing tourists, we have branded the state as 'Kerala: the home of Ayurveda'.

"We decided for branding because we are facing a lot of competition from Sri Lanka and South Asian markets. Moreover, we are combining wellness with sightseeing," he said.

Meanwhile, Kerala is signing an agreement with Saint Petersburg in Russia for joint promotion this week.

"To increase our visibility and help increase foot print, we decided to do joint promotions with other states in the country as well as foreign destinations. We are planning to sign an MoU with Saint Petersburg this week. We are looking at similar opportunities and may sign many such MoUs in future," he said.

RUSSIA: Red Tourism Attracts Hordes Of Chinese Tourists To Russia

Drawn by its Communist past and a visa-free regime, Chinese tourists are flocking to Russia in droves as it develops new routes touting “red tourism”. Nearly 410,000 Chinese came to Russia last year putting them on top of the list of foreign tourists, according to the federal tourism agency.

Their number has swelled 10 per cent since 2013, when Germans topped the list of overseas visitors. “We had lots of work this summer,” said Viktoria Borgacheva, the head of the association of Chinese interpreters and guides in the city of Saint Petersburg, Russia’s main tourist destination. “I would say our workload has increased 30 per cent since last year,” Borgacheva said.

In the first half of this year alone, more than 200,000 Chinese tourists visited Russia. Russia’s second city of Saint Petersburg, the former imperial capital renowned for its world-class museums and luxurious palaces, hosted nearly 26,000 Chinese tourists in 2014. “Saint Petersburg is a beautiful city with a rich history,” said Yong Tang, a 57-year-old tourist from Beijing, as he purchased a bust of Lenin.

“I’m glad I came here.” Experts estimate that between 40,000 and 50,000 Chinese tourists could visit Saint Petersburg this year, the Russian tourism industry union said. But Saint Petersburg’s European flair and its winding canals are not the main attraction for them, according to Russian tourism officials.

Chinese tourists flock to Saint Petersburg chiefly to soak in the city’s turbulent revolutionary history as the scene of three revolutions — one in 1905 and two in 1917 — that precipitated the end of the tsarist era and ushered in the Soviet Union. “While Europeans come to Saint Petersburg above all to admire the old capital and the Hermitage (art museum), Chinese tourists want to see Leningrad and its revolutionary history,” Borgacheva said, referring to Saint Petersburg’s Soviet-era name.

In July Moscow and Beijing officially launched an ambitious “red circuit,” a tourist route tracing the life of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin in four Russian cities. The eight-day journey starts in Moscow, where tourists can gape at hammers and sickles on Soviet-era buildings and in the sprawling metro network. The Russian capital is also the resting place of Lenin, with his body still preserved in a mausoleum on Red Square.

EGYPT: Tourism Industry Fears Huge Losses After Egypt Crash

Moscow has pulled 11,000 Russian tourists from Egypt in the past 24 hours, RIA news agency reported on Sunday (November 8), citing Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich.

Some 80,000 Russians have been stranded in Egypt since the Kremlin grounded all flights to the country on Friday following the crash of a Russian airliner in the Sinai Peninsula.

The crisis risks dealing a huge blow to Egypt’s tourism industry, but also to Russian tour operators.

“Egypt is the best selling destination now; it’s still peak season in Egypt, and this is the closest, warmest and most affordable destination,” said Irina Tiurina, spokeswoman for Russia’s Travel Industry Union. “Eighty percent of Russians who go on holiday abroad choose beach resorts; they go to warm places. So naturally the situation is very difficult.”

Russian and Egyptian authorities are carrying out an investigation into the fatal flight, which crashed on October 31 shortly after take-off from the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 people on board. Its intended destination was Saint Petersburg.

Britain and the United States suspect the plane an explosive device caused the disaster. But Egypt has urged caution and dismissed as “propaganda” claims the militant group ISIL brought down the plane.

Three million Russians holidayed in Egypt last year, more than any other nation. British tourists came next, but they are now also being repatriated, spelling bad news for Sharm el-Sheikh.

Until the crash, Sharm el-Sheikh had been considered a rare pocket of safety in Egypt. Elsewhere in the country, the tourism industry has been hit hard by years of political upheaval since the 2011 Arab Spring, as well as several bomb attacks.

RUSSIA: Russia Draws In Hordes Of Chinese With 'red tourism'

Drawn by its Communist past and a visa-free regime, mainland Chinese tourists are flocking to Russia in droves as it develops new routes touting "red tourism."

Nearly 410,000 Chinese came to Russia last year putting them on top of the list of foreign tourists, according to the federal tourism agency.

Their number has swelled 10 percent since 2013, when Germans topped the list of overseas visitors.

"We had lots of work this summer," said Viktoria Borgacheva, the head of the association of Chinese interpreters and guides in the city of Saint Petersburg, Russia's main tourist destination.

"I would say our workload has increased 30 percent since last year," Borgacheva said.

In the first half of this year alone, more than 200,000 Chinese tourists visited Russia.

Russia's second city of Saint Petersburg, the former imperial capital renowned for its world-class museums and luxurious palaces, hosted nearly 26,000 Chinese tourists in 2014.

Experts estimate that between 40,000 and 50,000 Chinese tourists could visit Saint Petersburg this year, the Russian tourism industry union said.

But Saint Petersburg's European flair and its winding canals are not the main attraction for them, according to Russian tourism officials.

Chinese tourists flock to Saint Petersburg chiefly to soak in the city's turbulent revolutionary history as the scene of three revolutions — one in 1905 and two in 1917 — that precipitated the end of the tsarist era and ushered in the Soviet Union.

"While Europeans come to Saint Petersburg above all to admire the old capital and the Hermitage (art museum), Chinese tourists want to see Leningrad and its revolutionary history," Borgacheva said, referring to Saint Petersburg's Soviet-era name.

'Red circuit'

In July Moscow and Beijing officially launched an ambitious "red circuit," a tourist route tracing the life of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin in four Russian cities.

The eight-day journey starts in Moscow, where tourists can gape at hammers and sickles on Soviet-era buildings and in the sprawling metro network. The tour ends in Saint Petersburg, the scene of the Bolshevik revolution of 1917.

Costing US$1,000 per person excluding flights, the "red circuit" promises to be lucrative for the dozen Russian tourist agencies participating in the programme, expected to be in full swing by next year.

Russia's new "red circuit" finds a counterpart in China, where Russian tourists can retrace the life of Mao Zedong, the first chairman of the Chinese Communist party.