Russia partially reopens international flights.

Russian international flights have been suspended since April 2020 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Starting on August 1st, Russia partially resumed international flights. Previously, on July 21st, Russian authorities announced that in the first phase of resuming international flights, air links to six major cities would only be permitted: Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, and Vladivostok.

Meanwhile, representatives from several major Russian airports confirmed that all international airports are now ready to operate. However, according to the assessment of the Russian Federal Service for Supervision, Protection of Health and Consumer Rights (Rospotrebnadzor), it is necessary to limit the number of cities resuming international air travel to minimize the risk of SARS-CoV-2 virus transmission throughout the Russian Federation. Russian airports not included in the initial list will reopen international flights no earlier than mid-August. In Moscow, all three international airports – Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, and Vnukovo – have reopened international flights to ensure the interests of major airlines based at various airports in Moscow.

Previously, on July 8th, Rospotrebnadzor submitted to the Russian Ministry of Transport and the Federal Air Transport Agency a list of 13 countries with which Russia would resume air traffic in the first phase. The list of countries meeting epidemiological criteria included 9 European Union countries: the United Kingdom, Hungary, Germany, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Finland, and 4 Asian countries: Vietnam, China, Mongolia, and Sri Lanka.

Amid the raging Covid-19 pandemic, Russia suspended all regular and charter flights with all countries from March 27th. The country only permitted flights from Russia to pick up citizens stranded in other countries, as well as cargo, postal, medical, and humanitarian flights; flights operating empty aircraft for maintenance; transit flights landing for refueling (or crew changes) on Russian territory; and flights conducted at the sole discretion of the Russian government.

As of early August 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic had infected more than 845,000 people in Russia, with over 14,000 deaths.

Huong Thao