All the news about Israeli tourism

Russia’s second largest airline, Aeroflot has begun operating a regular weekly flight between Moscow and Eilat. With the launch of the new service, Aeroflot has increased its route network to 95 destinations in 48 countries.  

The flight on aircraft Airbus 319 departs Moscow Shremetyevo airport every Sunday.   Flight SU501 departs from Moscow Sheremetyevo on Sundays (except May 31) at 12:40, arriving in Eilat (Ovda) at 16:00 local time.  The return flight, SU502 departs from Eilat (Ovda) on Sundays at 17:10, reaching Moscow Sheremetyevo at 22:35 local time. 

Establishing a regular flight connection between Eilat and Moscow will bring this popular and fast growing holiday resort closer to the people of Moscow and other Russian cities.

In November 2008 an aviation agreement was signed between Israel and Russia, enabling airlines from the two countries to operate direct flights between Moscow and Eilat. The Russian aviation authority appointed Aeroflot while Israel appointed Arkia and Israir to fly to Russia.

Aeroflot’s membership of the SkyTeam alliance provides its passengers with access to the alliance’s route network comprising 905 destinations in 169 countries.

The new flight will enhance opportunities for citizens of both countries, following the cancellation of visa requirements.  Since the cancellation of visa requirements between Russia and Israel, there has been a significant increase in the number of Russian tourists visiting Israel, totaling 356,000 in 2008, an increase of 84 percent on the previous year.

In recent months the Ministry of Tourism announced that a sum of 14 million shekels was being invested in marketing Israel as a leading destination for Russian tourists.  This follows the military operation in Gaza which led to a large fall in tourist traffic .

March 2009 showed something of a recovery in tourism, with a total of 24,100 Russians visiting Israel, a fall of only 1 percent on the same time last year.  During the first quarter the number of Russians visiting Israel fell by 13 percent compared with 2008.

The city of Eilat has shown signs of recovery in recent months, compared to other destinations in Israel; much of this thanks to investment in specific marketing and the return of charter flights.