Russian airline eyes Laos as new regional air hub

A Russian airline is eyeing Laos as a new potential regional hub, thanks to ongoing international developments, according to a company official. “Given the current international environment, Laos is now a new potential hub for the airline,” CEO of RUSASIA Roman A. Virich said in Vientiane. The top manager of the Russian company, which operates Ural Airlines, discussed his airline’s business strategy and performance of the first Vladivostok-Vientiane flight. Virich said that the Lao government’s policy to transform this landlocked nation into a land-linked nation and the limitation of flights from Russia to Asean has provided a great opportunity for the company to launch the Russia-Lao connection. Ural Airlines launched the Vladivostok-Vientiane flight in October, becoming the first civilian flight between the two countries. Lao and Russian policymakers believe that the establishment of an air connection between the two countries would promote tourist exchanges and economic cooperation between the two nations. It takes six hours for the 168-seat airbus to connect the Laos and Russian cities. “Apart from promoting the Laos-Russia tourist exchange, we expect to fly international passengers who want to travel from the Asean countries to Russia and vice versa,” he said, adding that passengers from Vietnam, Thailand, and other countries who are suffering due to the limitation of fights to Russia can now catch a flight from Vientiane.<br/>