Russia ready to welcome US tourists if direct flights resume, says official

Russia is ready to accept tourists from the United States if direct air travel between the two countries is restored, said a representative of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

“We are ready to receive tourists from the U.S. if flights resume. This we are definitely ready for,” Nikita Kondratyev, Director of the Ministry's Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects, at the sidelines of the international tourism forum and exhibition “Otdykh.”

He noted that the decision to restore direct flights is political.

“The procedure involves the aviation authorities of one country sending an application in a specific format to the aviation authorities of the other. This is primarily a political decision,” added the ministry official.

Direct flights between the U.S. and Russia, operated by airlines like Aeroflot and Delta, were a vital link for business and leisure travellers. The 2022 ban, enacted under U.S. Department of Transportation authority, cited national security concerns and effectively grounded all scheduled services. Travellers now rely on lengthy, costly routes via third countries like Türkiye, the UAE, or Serbia, often involving multiple connections and exceeding 20 hours. This has deterred casual tourists, with U.S. arrivals to Russia plummeting to under 10,000 annually since 2022, per Russian Federal Tourism Agency data.

By Khagan Isayev