Russia-Greece: expansion of air traffic between countries

Next week, the results of an intensive discussion between Greece and Russia on expanding air traffic between the countries will become known. To date, the format and terms are being considered, “Vestnik ATOR” reports.

According to the Greek Foreign Ministry, Vitaly Savelyev, Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation, and Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, Deputy Foreign Minister of Greece, took part in the meeting of the mixed Russian-Greek intergovernmental commission, held in the format of a videoconference. The main issues of discussion were the acceleration of the process of recognition of vaccination certificates and the agreement on a specific date for the opening of a full-fledged air service. Following the meeting, the Greek Foreign Ministry reports:

“The airlines consider an increased interest in the trips of Russian citizens in the summer to Greek destinations. For this reason, the two ministers agreed to contact again next week to finally agree on a flight start date based on the latest epidemiological data. ”

Regular flights between Russia and Greece have been operated since February of this year by Aeroflot and Aegean Airlines, but only according to the current quota – 2 regular flights on the Moscow-Athens route. Until May 14, an entry permit for up to 4,000 Russian citizens per week is also valid – only by air, with arrival at one of the 9 Greek airports.

The official opening of the tourist season 2021 kicks off in Greece on May 14. It is assumed that the quotas will be canceled, and the conditions for the entry of Russians will be revised. According to a source of Vestnik ATOR, during the videoconference, the issue of expanding the geography of flights, in particular, the possibility of flights to the islands of Rhodes and Crete, popular with Russians, was discussed. At the same time, Russia is interested in the flights being carried out by domestic carriers, and Greece is a supporter of parity. The source also reports that today the number of requests for weekly flights is 88 from the Greek side and 42 from the Russian side. After the final agreement on all issues, the decision to expand air traffic with Greece will be made by the Operations Headquarters.

Rospotrebnadzor, Federal Air Transport Agency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia should give an objective assessment of the possibility of resuming flights on new foreign routes and expanding the volume of traffic on open ones. Greece is on the list of countries with which the number of flights is proposed to be increased.

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