Tag Archives: Moscow

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) made its inaugural appearance at the 30th International Travel & Hospitality Show (MITT) in Moscow. Marking the destination’s inaugural participation at the annual travel and hospitality event, the Abu Dhabi stand aimed to cultivate and strengthen ties within the Russian and CIS markets, while enhancing awareness and appreciation for its offerings across culture, heritage, entertainment, nature, hospitality and beyond. Winning the ‘Outstanding Debut Award’, the Abu Dhabi stand took centre stage in the main hall, with the DCT Abu Dhabi International Operations Department and a delegation of 10 stakeholders spotlighting the emirate’s wide array of attractions and offerings. Further to promoting, protecting and progressing the emirate’s rich cultural and historic heritage, DCT Abu Dhabi’s presence also catered to sun and beach enthusiasts through sophisticated relaxation and rejuvenating escapes. Abu Dhabi’s participation bolstered connections, fostered new business collaborations and explored avenues for joint marketing endeavours. The 10 participating stakeholders included Khalidiya Palace Rayhaan by Rotana, Saadiyat Rotana, Beach Rotana, Etihad Airways, Air Arabia Abu Dhabi, Rixos Hotels, Saadiyat Island & Yas Island, Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, Yas Plaza Hotels and Bab Al Qasr Abu Dhabi. Representatives from these stakeholders actively engaged with guests, supporting Abu Dhabi’s vision to share its immersive cultural and heritage experiences, relaxing beach retreats, gastronomic delights, premier shopping outlets, and unparalleled hospitality offerings.

Oman Air has increased the frequency of flights to Moscow as part of its summer schedule. Offering maximum comfort and convenience to its guests, the airline will be flying daily using its popular Airbus A330 wide-body aircraft. The non-stop flight from Muscat will depart at 15:35 and arrive in Moscow at 20:55, while the return sector will depart from Moscow at 23:20 and arrive in Muscat at 06:30. Guests travelling to Muscat or Moscow should ensure they are aware of official requirements to enter or transit through the country. Those wishing to enhance their stay can also book a customised Moscow holiday package through Oman Air Holidays by visiting holidays.omanair.com. To book a flight or for more information, visit omanair.com.

Moscow Domodedovo Airport’s (DME) welcomed Jazeera Airways’ inaugural flight from Kuwait International Airport. Jazeera Airways, Kuwait’s leading low cost airline began operating this new route to offer passengers from Moscow connectivity to the Middle East region and beyond. Andrey Pavlov, Director of Domodedovo Airport said: “It is a great honor for us to receive a new carrier that will operate a unique route for the Moscow air hub, connecting the capitals of the two countries — Moscow and Kuwait City. We believe that our cooperation with Jazeera Airways will also actively contribute to strengthening relations between the two countries.” Kuwait, based in the Middle East, is one of the most developed countries in the world, offering a mix of modernity and old world charm. Domodedovo Airport’s passengers will enjoy direct connectivity to Kuwait and will also have access to Jazeera’s wide network of 55+ destinations across the Middle East, Central & South Asia, North Africa and Europe. Bharathan Ravindran, Vice President – Sales for Jazeera Airways said: “We are excited to be the first airline to launch the Kuwait – Moscow route in partnership with the Moscow Domodedovo Airport. We see a high demand for flights from Moscow for leisure travel as well as religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. Kuwait is ideally located to offer this connectivity. We are also looking forward to increasing the frequency of flights in the coming year to meet the demand for this route.” Jazeera Airways operates flights from Moscow Domodedovo Airport, one of the busiest airports in Russia, to Kuwait four times a week; on Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Jazeera Airways announced the launch of a new route to Moscow, Russia, serving an increasing demand for flights to the Middle East region and beyond. Jazeera will be the first airline to operate flights between the two cities. The route will cater to the increasing demand for tourist destinations for Russian travelers. They will be able to connect through Kuwait on to places such as Dubai, Sharm El Sheikh and popular cities in Turkiye. Jazeera Airways Chief Executive Officer, Rohit Ramachandran, said: “We expect high demand for this route from Day One, as our service comes at a time of a scarcity of flights serving Moscow. We are ideally placed in Kuwait to attract connecting leisure passengers from Russia as well as religious pilgrims to Saudi Arabia. We hope to expand the number of flights to our schedule during 2023.” The new route will commence on February 2, 2023 with four flights weekly leaving Kuwait on Mondays, Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays. Flights land at Moscow Domodedovo Airport (DME), one of the four major Moscow airports, and one of the busiest airports in Russia.  

Air Arabia has announced the resumption of direct flights between Sharjah and Moscow starting May 1, 2021. Customers can now book their direct flights between Sharjah and Moscow by visiting Air Arabia’s website, by calling the call centre or through travel agencies. Ensuring the highest standards of safety at every step of the journey by following all health and safety protocols, Air Arabia has also added to the convenience and confidence of passengers by introducing free COVID-19 insurance coverage. The insurance is automatically included as part of the booking and no additional documents are required from passengers.

The Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) continues to adopt initiatives with an aim to attract more tourists to the Kingdom of Bahrain and increase the tourism sector’s contribution to the national economy. In light of this, BTEA welcomed passengers who arrived on the first charter flight of the new season from Moscow on October 7, 2019. The first flight commissioned by Coral Travel within the charter programme from Moscow to Bahrain took place in October 2018 with two flights scheduled per week. This will be increased to three weekly flights until May 2020, carrying 220 passengers that will be staying in 30 different hotels across Bahrain. “The BTEA has strengthened its presence, bilaterial relations and partnerships with travel and tourism organisations, tour operators, travel agents and airlines across the world through its representative offices located in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), India, France, Germany, Russia, Kuwait and the United Kingdom. We will continue to work closely with all our representative offices to bring in tourist groups from around the world, further developing the tourism sector and increasing the contribution of non-oil based sectors of the national economy,” said Dr. Ali Follad, Tourism Advisor at BTEA. Receiving charter flights comes as part of the BTEA’s long term strategy to bring in large tourist groups, further developing the Kingdom’s tourism sector on a regional and international level under the slogan of ‘Ours.Yours.’, which contributes towards the Kingdom’s economy and the 2030 Economic Vision.

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) hosted a series of strategic meetings with tourism and media companies in Moscow and St. Petersburg recently. The meetings drew attention to Russia’s emergence as the sixth largest source market for Dubai. The number of Russian tourists has grown exponentially over the past few years, from 240,000 in 2016 to 678,000 in 2018 and in the first seven months of this year,  Dubai has welcomed 392,000 visitors from Russia. Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), who led the delegation, observed that Russian tourist traffic continued to play an important role in helping Dubai maintain steady tourism volumes. He also noted that following an exceptional resurgence in Russian visitors to Dubai in 2018, largely due to the visa-on-arrival enablement, growth from Russia levelled off to more sustainable volumes in H1 2019. Tour operators and destination management companies, who attended the meetings, included TUI – Russia & CIS, Karlson Tourism, Space Travel TO and Art Tour while Dubai Tourism also held wide-ranging discussions with key media companies including Kommersant Style, Spbdnevnik.ru, Proturizm.club, as well as TV and radio broadcasting company Travel.Vesti.  Dubai Tourism also hosted networking events in Moscow and St. Petersburg, which were attended by over 200 travel trade representatives.  

Emirates has introduced an additional Airbus A380 service to Johannesburg (OR Tambo International Airport), replacing the previous Boeing 777 aircraft on the route. EK762 (JNB-DXB) and EK761 (DXB-JNB) are now served by the flagship A380 aircraft. The Emirates Airbus A380 aircraft serving the Dubai-Johannesburg route will offer a total of 519 seats in a three-class configuration, with 429 spacious seats in Economy Class, 76 fully flat-bed seats in Business Class and 14 First-Class Private Suites. Upcoming festive season travel between the two global transit hubs is expected to be especially strong, building on over 700,000 customers who flew with the airline before November. With Emirates, customers from Johannesburg can enjoy a seamless A380 experience to their most popular destinations via Dubai, including London, Moscow, New York and Bangkok. All four daily Emirates flights between Johannesburg and Dubai operate as codeshare flights with partner South African Airways. The deployment of the double-decker aircraft on routes to and from South Africa gives even more regional travellers the chance to experience the aircraft’s industry-leading comforts. These include private suites and Shower Spas in its First-Class cabin, while Business-Class customers can enjoy the popular on-board lounge and lie-flat beds.

Oman Air has lent its support to the Ministry of Tourism, Oman, by hosting a Omani-themed workshop aimed at promoting the Sultanate’s tourism stakeholders, to celebrate the upcoming Moscow service in October. The event, which was held last week in Moscow, provided an opportunity to introduce Oman Air to the Russian market as well as showcased the unique hospitality and culture of Oman. Over 200 tour operators attended the event, with delegates from Oman Air. In addition to Oman Air, Ministry of Tourism, Oman, was joined by key hotel partners, including Anantara, Kempinski, Shangri-La and Crowne Plaza Muscat. With the launch of the new Moscow service, Oman Air is pleased that travellers from Russia will now be able to take advantage of convenient and seamless global travel to destinations within the extensive network. The new daily service to Moscow Domodedovo Airport will be operated by a Boeing 737 MAX 8 with an estimated flight time of 5 hours and 55 minutes, offering 12 seats in business class and 150 in economy class. Flight WY181 will depart Muscat daily at 14.55 hours, arriving to Moscow at 19.55 hours (local time). The return flight WY182 will depart Moscow at 00.20 hours, arriving at new passenger terminal at Muscat International Airport, at 06.55 hours.

With a touch-down at Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO), flydubai marked the start of a new daily service from its second point in Moscow. Starting January 1, 2018, flights to Sheremetyevo will be operated on the new Boeing 737 MAX 8. With operations to Vnukovo International Airport (VKO), flydubai now offers 14 weekly flights to the Russian capital. The airline will offer daily flights to SVO in addition to its service from VKO. The carrier marks new milestone for its operations to Russia with more than 50 weekly flights scheduled for the New Year holidays across 10 destinations in the country. The announcement sees flydubai expand its presence in Russia to 11 points in 10 cities. Earlier this autumn, the carrier launched flights to Makhachkala and Voronezh, resumed services to Ufa and increased capacity on its existing routes.