Sri Lanka welcomes new Russian flights after tourism plea

Sri Lanka on Thursday welcomed the first Russian travellers aboard a new flight service that was launched after the bankrupt nation urged Moscow to help revive its beleaguered economy by sending tourists. Russia was Sri Lanka's biggest source of visitors at the start of the year but arrivals nearly ceased after the invasion of Ukraine and as the Indian Ocean island weathered its worst-ever economic crisis. A commercial dispute also saw direct flights between the two countries suspended for months, prompting then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to ask his counterpart Vladimir Putin to resolve the impasse. Thursday's flight by Russian carrier Red Wings, carrying 398 passengers, was the first of a new biweekly direct service between Moscow and the southern port town of Hambantota. "The start of flights to Sri Lanka is a new milestone... a remarkable event for Red Wings, passengers and our countries," the airline's general director Evgeny Solodilin said in a statement. The route complements existing flights between Moscow and Colombo by Russian national carrier Aeroflot, which resumed in October after a four-month suspension. Aeroflot stopped its flights in June after a court ordered its Airbus A330 seized over a commercial dispute with an Irish company.<br/>