Russia may increase the number of direct flights between the country and tourist hotspots Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada, according to a Russian government statement. The number of direct flights between Moscow and each of the two Red Sea resorts could be upped from a current 15 up to as many as 25 per week starting from 21 September, according to the statement. The country will also resume direct flights to destinations in Iraq, Spain, Kenya and Slovakia from the same date, as it continues to ease coronavirus-related travel restrictions.

Between one and three flights per week will also be operated from Russian airports outside of Moscow that have resumed international flights to Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh, the statement added. It was not immediately clear which Russian airports that referred to, though Bloomberg in August reported that the Russian state aviation agency had cleared eight Russian airlines to operate flights to Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh from 43 cities across the country. Flights will also resume between Egypt and the international airports of Pskov, Magadan, Murmansk and Chita on 21 September, though the statement did not mention how frequently these would run.

Russia last month tripled the number of flights from Moscow to Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada, with each of the two Red Sea resorts now welcoming 15 planes every week. Egypt last month welcomed the first direct flights between Moscow and its Red Sea resorts in six years, as Russia’s flight ban finally came to an end.