Saudi low‑cost carrier Flynas is launching direct flights between Moscow and Jeddah starting December 23. According to the airline, flights to Jeddah will operate from Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport.
Vnukovo’s flight schedule shows that the first flight from Jeddah will arrive in Moscow at 10:30 a.m. Moscow time, and depart for Saudi Arabia at 11:30 a.m.
The launch follows the first ever scheduled direct flight between Saudi Arabia and Russia, operated by Flynas on August 1, when the Riyadh–Moscow route began service to Vnukovo.
Until that date, there had been no regular air service between the two countries. Deputy Transport Minister Vladimir Poteshkin previously noted that establishing direct flights was made possible through three years of joint work between the Russian Transport Ministry, the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia), and their Saudi counterparts, with strong support from the Federation Council and the Prosecutor General’s Office. The efforts culminated in Rosaviatsia granting Flynas permission to operate regular flights on the Riyadh–Moscow route.
On December 1, Russia and Saudi Arabia also signed an intergovernmental agreement abolishing visa requirements. According to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR), tourist travel between the two countries could rise two‑ to three‑fold once the visa‑free regime takes effect.
Air travel between Russia and Saudi Arabia was suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic. Although COVID-19 restrictions were later lifted, direct flights were not resumed because of low tourism demand. However, interest has surged sharply in 2025 — ATOR, citing Russia’s Federal Security Service Border Service, reported that Saudi Arabia ranked among the top three countries for inbound tourism to Russia between July and September 2025.
In the first quarter of 2019, only 210 Saudi citizens visited Russia. By the first quarter of 2025, that number had risen by a factor of 47 to 9,900. The Kingdom also recorded the fastest growth rate of inbound tourism to Russia — up 65.2 percent compared with the same period in 2024.
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Based on materials from TASS