Flights from Russia, Ukraine to jump

The number of flights from Russia and Ukraine into Israel was expected to rise sharply in 2006.

By YIGAL GRAYEFF
flying 88 el al (photo credit: )
flying 88 el al
(photo credit: )
The number of flights from Russia and Ukraine into Israel was expected to rise sharply in 2006. The government expecting the number of visitors from those areas to rise to 300,000 in 2006 from 93,000 in 2005, the Ministry of Tourism said on Tuesday. Foreign and Israeli airlines plan to operate 51 scheduled flights weekly from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Odessa, Dniepropetrovsk, and Chernovic, while charter airlines intend to quadruple the number of flights from these cities and from Lvov, Kharkov, Irkutsk and Novosibirsk. The additional flights would add an extra 62,000 seats on scheduled routes and 67,000 more seats on charters, the ministry said, adding that it is working to shorten visa-processing times using an Internet-based system.