One charter/day from Russia to Goa from November 15

PANAJI: Goa will see an average of one charter a day from Russia from November 15. Azur Air, the charter airline that had cancelled its October schedule, will operate the flight from mid-November till the end of March, reports Bindiya Chari. The charters to Goa will come from three different Russian cities.
Abida Kumar, vice-president, operations of Minar Travels (India), a major handler for Azur Air in Goa, said they have received a confirmation that the charter company will begin its operations from mid-next month. “We will have three flights from Moscow and two each from two different cities flying into Goa every week,” Kumar said.
The seat capacity of the flight is now 238, but prior to the pandemic, the state saw bigger charters having capacity of more than 500 passengers coming to Goa. Usually, four to five charters from different Russian cities would fly into Goa during a season.
“These (238) are good numbers and you never know, more charter companies may start operations,” she said.
Last year, Goa received just 42 charters, of which 18 were from Russia, that came with a total of 4,707 visitors.
Apart from Azur Air, Russia’s biggest airline, Aeroflot, will begin scheduled flights thrice a week from November 2.
Kumar said that the noise over Azur Air’s cancellation of landing slots booked for October was unwarranted.
“I don’t know why the hue and cry,” he said. “Before an airline finalises its programme, it puts in its request for landing slots. Cancellation of slots by any airline is a normal practice. When Azur placed a request for October slots, even the sale of tickets had not started nor other essential preparation done.”
With Azur Air and Aeroflot starting operations from next month, Goa is expected to see a steady flow of Russian travellers during the season, though the numbers will not match up to pre-pandemic figures.
The state receives the highest number of foreign tourists from Russia, and even among charters, more than half of visitors come from that country.
Annually, Goa receives 8 to 9 foreign tourists, comprising 2-2.5 lakh charter arrivals.