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RUSSIA LEADING THE PACK
* First charter flight of the season to Goa from Moscow on October 2
* Four such flights from Moscow every week from October to March 29
* Charter period could be extended upto May 12, confirmation awaited
* Confirmation received on charter flights from other countries too
* First charter flight from United Kingdom in the first week of November
* Another charter flight from Finland to land in Goa in mid-December
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After two disappointing years, Goa's charter tourism season is set to look up this time around.
Leading tour operators sounded optimistic despite the fact that the State had two consecutive bad seasons with charter flight services in Goa hitting a 12-year-low amid a dwindling number of foreign tourists as compared to domestic travelers.
The optimism was evident when leading tour operators of Goa, Sheik Ismail, general manager of Concord Travels & Tours said, “We are bringing first charter flight of the season to Goa from Moscow on October 2, 2016. It is a big flight with 512 passenger capacity and it will be fully packed.”
Ismail continued, “We are bringing four such charter flights from Moscow every week from October 2016 to March 29, 2017. We are expecting confirmation on the same flight for a further period till May 12, 2017 also.”
Russia contributes the most to charter segment in Goa, but Russian currency (ruble) had got hit two years back. One of the main reasons for ruble’s collapse was sanctions imposed by the US and European Union on Russia in the wake of its intervention in Ukraine.
Consequently, ruble had lost more than half of its value compared to US dollar between 2014 and 2015, which had affected the purchasing capacity of Russian tourists and many of them shunned travel.
Russian currency is yet to recover from that although it has remained stable in 2016 compared to 2015 levels. Meanwhile, Russia has banned all passenger flights to Egypt after a chartered passenger flight operated by a Russian airline disintegrated while flying in Egypt in an alleged terrorist attack.
Ernest Dias, chief operating officer, Sita Travels and TCI said, “Earlier, a number of Russians used to go to Egypt and Turkey but that’s not happening now due to political reasons. This is one of the reasons why more charter flights from Russia are expected this season to Goa.”
Dias further said, “We are bringing a charter flight from Russia to Goa on October 18, 2016.”
Last year, Russia had also banned charter flights to Turkey as diplomatic relations between two countries had deteriorated after a Russian aircraft was shot down by Turkish air force.
Subsequently, Russia has lifted the ban but sources revealed that Russians aren’t very comfortable travelling to Turkey as a series of terrorist attacks have rocked Turkey this year.
Meanwhile, tour operators have already got confirmation on charter flights from other countries too. Dias said, “We are bringing our first charter flight from UK in the first week of November. Mid December, we are also bringing a charter flight from Finland.”
Both Ismail and Dias were of the opinion that Goa is likely to receive more charter flights this season than previous season.
