PRETORIA, May 7. /TASS/. Russia and Tanzania are holding talks on the opportunity of resuming direct flights between the two countries, Russian Ambassador to Tanzania Andrey Avetisyan said in an interview with The Citizen newspaper.

"We are now discussing with the Tanzanian Government and Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority the possibility of reestablishing direct flights," the Ambassador said, cited by the newspaper." I think we will start with a charter flight before establishing regular commercial flights. We are now negotiating a new bilateral agreement with the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority; it is almost finished, and I hope it will be signed soon. I hope it will not only provide the opportunity to establish direct flights for Russians to come to Tanzania but also for Tanzanians to go to Russia," Avetisyan noted.

Tanzania is a popular tourist destination for Russian tourists for years, particularly Zanzibar, the Ambassador said. "Unfortunately, during the pandemic, the number fell sharply, and now we are trying to increase it again. But to increase the number of tourists, we need several factors to be in place. The most important thing to do to bring back the number of tourists to a high level is to establish direct flights from Russia to Tanzania," the Russian diplomat noted.

Russian tourists desirous to visit Tanzania have to fly now with transfers in Ethiopia, the UAE, Turkey and Oman, he added.