MIAMI, United States. – This weekend, the Russian airline Aeroflot ran special flights to Cuba and the Dominican Republic in order to bring back to Russia those tourists stranded in various Caribbean countries following the closing of airspace to Russian aircrafts by the United States, Canada and the European Union, according to the official daily Juventud Rebelde.
According to Aeroflot, Cuban nationals are accepted on the flights to Cuba, while on the flights back from Cuba, they will be allowed to fly only when the last Russian national has been repatriated.
Specifically, the airline stated that it will operate a regular flight to Havana, Cuba, and another one to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on March 5th and 6th.
According to Juan Carlos Escalona, tourism advisor at the Cuban Embassy in Moscow, more than 5,500 Russian vacationists are stranded in the island at the present time.
Last Wednesday, the Russian Association of Tour Operators (ATOR) indicated that repatriation flights for stranded Russian tourists in Cuba and other Caribbean countries, like Mexico and the Dominican Republic would not be halted in spite of U.S. airspace being closed to Russian aircrafts.
The closing of airspace “will not affect the schedule of repatriation flights (…). Routes will be modified slightly and flights will go totally over neutral waters,” stated the organization.
“All repatriation flights from the Caribbean will be carried on. We will fly over neutral waters,” confirmed Anna Podgornaya, executive director of PEGAS Touristik.
Last February 28th, Azur Air, Aeroflot, Air France-KLM and Royal Flights, the main airlines that run the Cuba-Russia itinerary, cancelled reservations and flights due to the sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union and Canada for its invasion of Ukraine.
Under those circumstances, Aeroflot approved “special flights” to the Caribbean this week in order to repatriate stranded Russian tourists.
The cancellation of flights between Cuba and Russia could be an obstacle to the Cuban government’s plans that focus on increasing tourism as a solution to the economic crisis the country is enduring, especially in light of the number of Russian visitors that come to the island.
According to official data, a total of 146,151 Russian tourists arrived in Cuba in 2020. In mid 2021, more than half of all registered tourists in the island were Russian.
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