The resumption of the Bali-Moscow direct flight route is currently under the consideration of both the governments of Indonesia and Russia, as confirmed by President Vladimir Putin following a bilateral meeting with President Joko Widodo.
In a public statement released on his official website earlier today, Putin said the planned direct flight was among the highlights of discussions between him and Jokowi during the latter’s visit to Moscow on June 30.
“The possibility to resume direct flights from Moscow to the resort island of Bali is under consideration,” he said.
Jokowi visited Putin earlier this week in what was mentioned to be a peace-building mission following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In addition, the two leaders also spoke about other areas of cooperation, such as humanitarian, cultural, tourism, and educational exchanges.
President Putin noted that the easing of COVID-19 restrictions for travelers as well as the existing visa-free regime, with Russian nationals included in Indonesia’s visa on arrival (VOA) eligibility list per May this year, would ease the tourism cooperation between Russia and Indonesia.
Russian nationals have consistently ranked among the top travelers by nationality on the Island of Gods.
As previously reported by Coconuts Bali, many Russians in Bali experienced financial difficulties after American financial institutions such as MasterCard and Visa sanctioned Russia-issued cards following the Ukraine invasion.
Some Russians resorted to cryptocurrencies to survive, while others managed to get hold of Indonesian bank cards by getting locals to sponsor their accounts.
