HANOI, February 1. /TASS/. The resumption of direct flights by Russia’s flagship carrier Aeroflot from Moscow to Ho Chi Minh City will help stimulate Russian tourism to Vietnam, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Pegas Misr Travel Hoang Thi Phong Thu told TASS.

"The resumption of direct flights [between Moscow and Ho Chi Minh City] is indeed a good piece of news for Russian and Vietnamese passengers, and particularly for Vietnam's tourism industry. We would be very happy to welcome tourists from Russia back to Vietnam so they can spend their vacation and relax here like in days past," the senior executive said.

The number of Russian tourists coming to Vietnam was over 600,000 per year before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 165,000 accommodated by Pegas Misr Travel, she noted. Direct air service between Vietnam and Russia was interrupted from March 2020 and until recently. The Pegas tour operator also had to stop making and receiving charter flights from Russia due to the pandemic, serviced by Nordwind Airlines and IKAR. "We hope these air carriers will be able to resolve current difficulties and make direct flights to Vietnam from Russia again, as Aeroflot has started," the senior executive stressed.

Aeroflot has resumed scheduled flights with Vietnam, the representative office of the airline in Hanoi told TASS. The first direct flight from Russia to Vietnam landed in Ho Chi Minh City this morning.