“Starting from Apr 9, we are lifting restrictions set for combating coronavirus pandemic, which applied to our regular and charter flights between Russia and a number of other countries," Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Monday (Apr 4), provoking an immediate response from potential tourists who started searching for available flights to different destinations including Thailand, one of most-preferred destination for Russians before the most recent crisis.
According to OneTwoTrip – a popular vacation planning service in Russia – ticket inquiries jumped on the day of the announcement. In some cases the spike in interest was as high as 350%, said Elena Shelehova, head of OneTwoTrip press service.
“As per search inquiries made by the clients of the service on Apr 4 amid the news of canceling COVID restrictions on flights to specific countries, growth in interest is witnessed for basically all the destinations – from 5% to 350% compared to average daily numbers for the week from Mar 29 to Apr 3”, Russian state news agency TASS quoted Shelehova as saying.
Searches for tickets to Thailand on Apr 4 grew by 20%, for Vietnam – by 32%, for Philippines – by 55%, for Maldives – by 22%, for Turkey – by 18%.
Other “exotic” destinations showed even bigger numbers. Interest towards Fiji, Zimbabwe, Jamaica and Madagascar jumped by 220-290%.
As reported by TASS, the restrictions were lifted for 52 “friendly” countries which did not join Western sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February. Thailand is listed among states deemed as “Russian-friendly”.
Phuket officials welcomed the decision by sharing a WorkpointTODAY’s story promoting how Thailand has maintained its “friendly” status with Russia and highlighting Phuket may soon see Russian tourists return to the island.
“Russia still does not open air routes for countries listed in the hostile nation that jointly announced sanctions against Russia,” the report said.
Yet actual flights are still on hold as Russian airlines, which mostly served routes between Russia and Thailand, face heavy pressure from Western sanctions, including cancellation of lease agreements which may result in aircraft seizure upon landing in a foreign country.
The airlines also are unable to purchase spare parts or receive maintenance services.
Limited connecting flights are conducted by foreign operators, but those are costly due to re-routing and high oil prices. Direct flights by THAI Airways International are currently not available.
Thailand has officially maintained neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, inline with eth stance by most ASEAN countries. Yet the Kingdom supported the United Nations resolution passed on Mar 2 calling for Russian forces to withdraw from Ukraine and deploring Russia’s “aggression against Ukraine”.
On Apr 6, Thailand abstained in the voting to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council while 93 members voted in favour and the resolution was passed, just like the previous one.