By Nishel Fernando 

Sri Lanka’s tourism sector is set to get a boost from the Russian tourists this winter season, with the commencement of six direct flights per week between various Russian cities and Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) from this week.

“I would like to inform you that more Russians will visit Sri Lanka and your businesses will increase. We lunched direct flights yesterday (October 28) to the Hambantota airport from different cities of Russia,” Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives Levan Dzhagaryan announced.

He made these remarks at the launch event of Gem Sri Lanka, held in Colombo, on Tuesday.  One of Russia’s largest carriers, Red Wings, started operating six flights a week from key Russian cities, including Moscow, Kazan, Novosibirsk, Ekaterinburg, Sochi and Samara, until May 6 next year. 

According to former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Sri Lanka Udayanga Weeratunga, an estimated 68,000 tourists are expected to visit the island nation in the period via Red Wings.

Earlier this year, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a proposal to hand over the management of MRIA jointly to India’s Shaurya Aeronautics (Pvt.) Ltd and Russia’s Airports of Regions, for a 30-year period. 

As of October 27, Russia remained as the third largest source market, with 134,609 Russian tourists visiting the island nation.