Federal Media Overview

June 2019 will see a 20% increase in charter flights compared to June 2018. The Association of Tour Operators received this information on May 28 from Dmitry Gorin, advisor to the head of Federal Agency for Tourism and member of the working group at the Federal Air Transport Agency. During the public holidays in Russia from 1 to 12 May, Russian airlines served over 3.1 thousand charter flights, 34% up from the same period last year.

Setting VAT to zero for domestic air travel (except Moscow), which starts on July 1, 2019, will help compensate for the increasing fuel prices. Dmitry Gorin shared this information on May 29, in an interview with RIA Novosti. "In addition to that, the subsidy program and the share of 'flat' or fixed prices that don't change with season or purchase date have increased in 2019," Dmitry said. He also mentioned that this year's increase in fuel prices is less noticeable than in the past and will not have such a significant effect on flight fares.

On May 31, in an interview with RT, Dmitry Gorin spoke about the effects of the potential visa-free policy between Russia and Japan. Sergey Lavrov, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, had previously suggested this idea during his meeting with Tarō Kōno, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan. According to Dmitry Gorin, if visa-free policy is established, the tourist flow between the two countries will grow by 30%. "The Japanese are very interested in exploring Russia, and Russian agencies in turn offer exciting trips to Japan. So this could be a great boost for the tourism of the two countries," said Dmitry.