Yamal charter flights to take Kazan residents to St. Petersburg on May holidays

Subsidised charter tours from Kazan to St. Petersburg and Moscow open during May holidays

Tours from Kazan to St. Petersburg based on charter flights will be launched for the first time with the support of Rostourism. The programme starts on April 29 but finishes immediately after the May holidays. Probably, more resources are directed to the Moscow direction. At the same time, it is noteworthy that Yamal airline, belonging to the autonomous okrug of the same name, was chosen as the carrier.

May tours to the northern capital

The charter tourist programme between Kazan and St. Petersburg based on air travel has opened this year for the first time in Tatarstan. It will be operated by Fun&Sun tour operator (former TUI Russia) with the support of Rostourism and the State Committee of the Republic of Tatarstan for Tourism. Last year, Fun&Sun already carried out a charter programme of flights from Kazan to Moscow and Tyumen.

“On the threshold of the start of the summer tourist season, Fun&Sun tour operator (former TUI Russia) has launched a bilateral charter programme St. Petersburg-Kazan-St. Petersburg for the first time. The programme is implemented with the support of Rostourism and the State Committee of the Republic of Tatarstan for Tourism," the press service of the department reported.

The cost of the tour is 1,5-2 times less than on the basis of regular air transportation. “Sightseeing tours to St. Petersburg are designed for 4/5 days and 3/4 nights. The price for an excursion tour starts from 17,739 rubles ½ DBL with a flight from Kazan," the message says.

Flights to St. Petersburg from Kazan are scheduled for April 29, May 3 and May 6. Charter flights are operated by Yamal Airlines. Guests from Tatarstan are offered excursion programmes in the Northern capital, including visits to iconic locations: sightseeing tours, a visit to the Hermitage, a boat tour of rivers and canals, “Along the old Peterhof Road” with a visit to the Lower Park and much more.

On the other hand, residents of St. Petersburg will have the opportunity to acquainted with the main sights of the republic: Kazan Kremlin, island-city of Sviyazhsky and Raifa Monastery, and go to excursions to Bolgar, Chistopol, Yelabuga.

To Moscow again

“The charter programme allows tourists to significantly save on travels, which is especially important today," said Sergey Ivanov, the chairman of the State Committee of Tatarstan for Tourism. “With charters, the format of travel in Russia has changed — tourists get an organised transfer, accommodation, and an interesting programme. There is no need to worry about anything, the tour operator takes care of everything.

At the same time, the bilateral charter programme on the Moscow-Kazan-Moscow route will continue. However, its validity period is longer. During the May holidays, departures are scheduled for April 29, May 3 and May 6. But then they are scheduled twice a week — on Tuesdays and Fridays until June 10 inclusive. Duration of the tour: 5 days/4 nights, except for the tour with arrival on May 3 — 4 days/3 nights.

Tourist charter programmes have been launched for the third time. They first started in the autumn of 2021 and were continued in January 2022. According to the results of two stages, 1,810 people used the services of the charter programme. The average load on charter flights was about 95%.

Earlier, assessing their effectiveness, the head of the Tatarstan State Committee for Tourism, Sergey Ivanov, noted a high interest in Kazan.

“Six flights departed in September, four flights were during the New Year holidays. All flights were fully loaded. <...> These two past stages have shown that interest in Tatarstan, interest in Kazan is very high. We hope that the flights will be fully loaded," he said.

Luiza Ignatyeva
Tatarstan