INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
civil aviation agency Rosaviatsia sent offers to airlines Aeroflot and Aurora to assess their readiness to launch flights to Pyongyang,
Kommersant said, citing unspecified sources.A Rosaviatsia delegation visited counterparts in North Korea last week to discuss the expansion
invasion of Ukraine.Regular flights from Russia would make it easier to send Russian delegations from Moscow to Pyongyang and vice
versa.Flights between the two countries restarted in August 2023, after a years-long break due to the Covid-19 pandemic.Panteleyev told
Kommersant that because Russian airlines do not have small planes capable of flying non-stop between Moscow and Pyongyang and there is not
from Pyongyang carry construction workers to Russia.Tour operators have not yet received any requests to restore tours to the country
Two large Moscow tour agencies told Kommersant that before the pandemic, they could bring groups of 10 to 15 people to North Korea every six
months, but they do not expect leisure travel to resume until at least 2024.Last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recommended
that Russian tourists vacation in North Korea.However, a source in the tourism industry told Kommersant they do not expect more than a few
thousand Russians to travel to North Korea per year
In contrast, 4.6 million Russians visited Turkey in 2022.
