• 

Russian, Cuban, and Venezuelan cooperation culminated in the resumption of flights between Havana and Moscow, which is set to help develop tourism and trade, the head of the Cuban branch of Venezuela's Conviasa airline, Frank Carlos Diaz Medina, told Russian news agency Sputnik after the first embarking on the route landed in Havana.

"Talks between Russia, Cuba, and Venezuela on the involvement of Venezuelan airline Conviasa are designed to encourage tourism between the three countries, but, above all, transportation of commercial and non-commercial cargoes, which is necessary for the development of the participating countries," Diaz explained.

The first airliners from Venezuela to take on the journey from Caracas, Havana, and then Moscow arrived in Cuba early on Monday morning.

Russia and Cuba announced the resumption of flights in May 2022 after the Russian-Cuban intergovernmental commission held meetings and a bilateral business forum.

Flights between Havana and Moscow were brought to a grinding halt for two months due to international sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine war.

Cuba has staunchly been in support of Russia since before the outbreak of the war, calling on the United States and NAO a day before the war to "seriously and realistically" respond to Russia's demands when it came to Kiev.

In a statement, Havana highlighted the United States' "determination to impose the progressive expansion of NATO toward the borders of the Russian Federation" which constitutes "a threat to the national security" of its ally, Russia.

The national carriers of Russia and Venezuela signed Monday a memorandum of understanding expanding their cooperation to develop the connections between Russia, Venezuela, and Cuba.

Conviasa and its Russian counterpart, Aerolft, will conduct flights once a week using Airbus A340-200 aircraft on the Caracas-Havana-Moscow route, with the latter also announcing plans to begin serving the Cuban Varadero Airport as of July 1.

The MoU signed between the airlines includes the scope for codeshare and interline agreements in the future.

Conviasa has been serving the Russia-Venezuela market since August 2021, with flights taking place every other week.

Aeroflot is the largest airline in Russia, and it includes Rossiya Airlines and Pobeda Airlines. The company in 2022 carried 20.5 million passengers (40.7 million passengers as Aeroflot Group including subsidiaries).

One of the oldest airlines in the world, at 100 years old, Aeroloft is working on bolstering Russia's ties with international partners as well as working on expanding the country's domestic route network.