Goa’s charter season to feel the heat of Russia’s suspension of international flights amid war

In the recent turn of events, all the commercial and charter airlines in Russia have suspended their international flights fearing the "mass arrests of aircraft abroad" due to its attack on Ukraine. Now, this decision of the Russian government is going to have a huge impact on Goa’s charter season.

Apparently, Goa receives a huge number of tourists from Russia each year, especially during the charter season which lasts till mid-May. But the news comes as a blow as Goa’s tourism was already struggling due to a slowdown in bookings from Russian destinations. According to reports, the last charter from Russia reached Goa on March 3 but had to return with passengers on March 7, soon after Russia’s announcement of flight suspension. If the Russia-Ukraine war goes on, Goa can’t expect any charters in April.
Ralph de Sousa, President of Goa Chamber of Commerce (GCCI) said, “All operators from Russia take charters on lease. If due to the sanctions a fleet of charters leased to operators in Russia are withdrawn, they will be in trouble.”

Goa used to get travellers from Belarus, Georgia and other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) nations. But all these countries are quite close to the warring nations so there’s no hope of Russian charters coming to Goa during the remainder of the season only because of the aircraft.
As of now, Kazakhstan is the only country sending charters to Goa, once a week.