Ikar Airlines LLC, affiliated with Pegas Touristik and also known as Pegas Fly or Nordwind, resumed direct flights from Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport yesterday (Oct 30), landing in Phuket with 449 passengers on board.
Russia’s largest airline and flag carrier Aeroflot also resumed its daily direct nine-hour flight service from Moscow to Phuket yesterday. Its first direct flight since March touched down at Phuket International Airport at 9:10pm last night.
According to the Phuket Airport Immigration Daily Report, the arrivals on the new flight services were enough to push the number of international arrivals at Phuket airport on the one day to a record 7,540 ‒ the highest on any one day since the COVID-19 tourism shutdown in 2020.
While the Ikar Airlines flights from Moscow will continue operating every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, the number of daily arrivals is expected to climb even higher with the launch of the three new flight services from Russia’s Far East.
This Thursday (Nov 3), Siberia Airlines will launch its round-trip flights from International Airport Irkutsk, operating every Thursday through to March next year.
Also on Thursday Siberia Airlines will launch its round-trip flights from Novosibirsk International Airport (Tolmachevo), operating every Monday, Thursday and Saturday. The new service will also continue through to March next year.
Siberia Airlines will also launch another new service, from Vladivostok International Airport, on Nov 7. The service will operate every Monday, and also continue through to March next year.