Russians in Manila for the holidays

MANILA, Philippines - A Russian chartered flight with 87 tourists from the eastern regions of Kamchatka and Kresnoyarsk arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) yesterday to celebrate the Christmas of the Orthodox Church on Jan. 6 and New Year in the country.

The tourists, who are avoiding the harsh Russian winter, arrived on a Tupolev 204 jetliner. Winter temperature in Russia has fallen between –15 and –20 degrees Celsius.

Anton Kurichkin, 22, and his girlfriend Anya Isaeva, 20, signed up for the winter charter program to experience the surfing sites in the Philippines.

“We like snowboarding in winter but sometimes, we become bored with too much snow and ice,” Kurichkin said.

Joining the group are members of the Kamchatka Divers Association.

This is the second time the country is hosting a chartered flight from Russia’s eastern region.

Russian travel agency Sputnik pushed aggressively for this charter, canceling their regular chartered program to Thailand in favor of the Philippines.

Sputnik spokesperson Tatyana Diigina said there are many Russian tourists who want to visit the country but the agency could only manage to assemble a group enough for one planeload a year. Individual Russian tourists, however, have been visiting the Philippines all year round.

Natalia and Vladimir Bolkov, with their two-year-old son George, are spending 20 days in the country.

“You see, we are only in shirt and light clothes instead of thick leather jacket and coats. We really love your climate,” Vladimir said.

He said they are also looking forward to shopping in Metro Manila malls.

“(We plan to shop) until we run out of money. Anyway, we have 20 days to relax,” he said.

Tourism Secretary Joseph Durano said the second winter charter program from Eastern Russia is expected to lead to more visits by Russian tourists.

“Despite the absence of direct flights from Russia, the winter charter program for Kamchatka and Kresnoyarsk ensure that more Russians are given the opportunity to discover the many wonders of our 7,107 islands,” he said.