Russian airline Rossiya resumes weekly flights between Moscow and Havana.

The Russian airline Rossiya, a subsidiary of the Aeroflot group, will resume regular flights between Moscow and Havana starting next Sunday, October 13, with a weekly frequency, the company confirmed.

The connection between both capitals had been announced in the middle of this year and is part of the efforts of the governments of Russia and Cuba to expand commercial flights to the island.

The resumption of this route represents the continuation of the flights that Rossiya Airlines launched in December 2023, as part of a seasonal connection program during the so-called high tourist season on the island, which coincides with winter in the northern hemisphere, emphasized the official site Excelencias News Cuba.

This weekly flight to Havana adds to those that the Russian airline operates from Moscow to the resort of Varadero, whose frequency increased to three times a week as of October 3rd.

Flights between Cuba and Russia had been suspended in March 2022 due to the Eurasian country's invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union on Vladimir Putin's government.

Recently, Russia reiterated its interest in expanding commercial flights to the island, as stated by Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovoit during the Eastern Economic Forum held in the city of Vladivostok from September 3 to 6.

"We are negotiating with our partners in Cuba, Africa, and other regions. Everything depends on demand. If airlines see the demand, then, of course, they react. Therefore, the topic is studied here with specific countries," said the official in an interview with Sputnik.

The Cuban government aspires to have more than 200,000 Russian tourists arrive in the country this year, a flow that could be favored by the implementation of MIR card use at the end of 2023.

During the first half of 2024, the number of tourists from that country visiting Cuba reached 112,721, only surpassed by Canada (577,549) and by Cubans residing abroad (155,320).

Meanwhile, up until August, 132,935 travelers from the Eurasian nation were recorded, making it the fastest-growing source country for tourism to the island from one year to the next.

However, tourism from Russia alone could not raise the figures of the depleted leisure industry in Cuba.

In the first half of this year, the island received 1.4 million foreign tourists (exactly 1,463,097), which represented 15,263 fewer travelers than in the same period of 2023, according to official data. This again distances the possibility of meeting the regime's annual forecasts.