The air connection with Russia on the agenda of the meeting Mich. Papadopoulou with N. Dendia

The resumption of charter flights and the uninterrupted, unrestricted air connection with Russia in view of the beginning of the tourist season for our country, was the main topic of discussion during the working visit of the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Foreign Affairs today. Minister of Transport, Michalis Papadopoulos, in order to discuss issues of Transport competence with Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, in view of his visit to Moscow.

The Deputy Minister of Transport, according to a newsletter of the ministry, proposed to include in the agenda of the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the issue of charter flights, noting that in the 13th Session of the Joint Interministerial Committee for Economic, Industrial, Scientific and Technical held in November in Moscow, the issue of air transport was raised, among other things.

Delegations then welcomed the increase in destinations on both sides for regular services and expressed the belief that air traffic between the two countries would be restored and in 2022 will return to 2019 levels, as the aviation crisis has mediated due to effects of the pandemic. It is also important to reduce the number of tourists from Russia as a result of the reduction in the number of special services (charter flights). Indicatively, based on the available data, during the previous year, there were huge reductions in arrivals from Russia, which reached historical lows, for example in Heraklion, Crete -85% and in Rhodes -82%.

Finally, the Deputy Minister of Transport informed Mr. Dendias about the development of the de-ligation program in the prefectures of Kozani and Florina, in order to investigate the possibility of attracting investments in this field.