Charter flight from Russia to land in Aqaba Thursday — tourism board

AMMAN — Local travel agencies are intensifying their efforts to promote the country’s attractions to Russian tourists, with the first charter flight scheduled to land in Aqaba on Thursday, sector officials said Wednesday.

Tourism Minister Nayef Al Fayez said Russia has always been one of the most important markets for Jordan, and “it was included as part of the markets to intensify campaigns in” through the budget allocated for the sector a few months ago.

Last Thursday, Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) Managing Director Abed Al Razzaq Arabiyat said “intensified contacts” are being made with Russian and British tour operators to promote trips to Aqaba, expecting “positive” results to be announced soon.

Russia stopped its flights to Egypt after a plane recently crashed over the Sinai desert. 

The aircraft, carrying 224 people on board, came apart in midair after taking off from the resort of Sharm El Sheikh, leaving no survivors, Agence France-Presse reported.

Russian officials said Tuesday that a bomb containing the equivalent of one kilogramme of TNT went off aboard the plane, The Associated Press reported.

In a phone call with The Jordan Times on Wednesday, Arabiyat noted that a Jordanian team is currently representing the sector in Moscow in an attempt to increase the number of charter flights to Jordan.

A flight is scheduled to arrive on Thursday, he said, without elaborating on the number of passengers onboard.

Arabiyat noted that between 25,000 to 30,000 Russian tourists visit Jordan annually, but the number is expected to increase this year.

He also said there are reservations from Germany and the UK, following a campaign that tourism authorities recently launched in these two countries.

Last week, Arabiyat said the JTB has called on Royal Wings to offer competitive prices for the Russian market to encourage tourists to visit Jordan, and the airline agreed.

He expressed the JTB’s confidence that tourism offices and hotels will provide “encouraging” prices to Russian tour operators.