DOT secures new charter flights to Russia

MANILA, Philippines - Russia’s second largest airline TransAero is launching daily chartered flights on the Moscow-Cebu-Moscow route beginning November 2010.

The new flights follow the amendment of the 1992 RP-Russia Air Services (ASA) agreement allowing all Russian carriers unlimited flight frequencies from any three points in Russia to three points in the Philippines, namely Manila, Clark, and another destination (such as Cebu, Davao, Iloilo) and vice-versa. 

The amended bilateral air services agreement had been endorsed by the government through Tourism Secretary Ace Durano to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in June 2009 at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

“We have intensively campaigned to open the Philippine skies further to address the influx of Russian tourists,” said Durano.

“With the long winter coming, we expect more tourists trooping to our tropical beaches. And we also see a rise in leisure destinations, as more than 80 percent of Russians come from the high-end market,” said Eduardo Jarque Jr., Undersecretary for Tourism Planning and Promotions.

Jarque further said that previous deliberations with the market have prompted three big Russian travel wholesalers – South Cross, Paks, and Capital Tours – to launch packages to Cebu, Bohol, Palawan and Boracay, “We are expecting the arrival of several major tour groups from these operators next year.”

One of the longest-staying and high-spending markets, the Russians are high up in the list of tourist arrivals.

The number of flights and the approval of fifth-freedom air rights, which indicates the right of the carrier to pick up passengers from a third country before proceeding to its destination, rest on the agreement between the civil aviation authorities of the two countries.