IrAero to send 1st plane to ship tourists stuck in Hainan Monday

MOSCOW, Dec 10 (PRIME) -- Irkutsk-based aviation company IrAero has decided to send a debut plane to transport Russian tourists stuck on China’s Hainan Island late on Monday, before the government’s interdepartmental commission makes a final decision on who will pay for the service, Deputy CEO Sergei Krupnov told PRIME.

“The company is establishing an emergency center to evacuate the tourists from China. A debut plane is being prepared for departure to Hainan. The first flight will be performed to Kazan, then to Ufa, but it may be combined,” he said.

Krupnov also said that the schedule will be defined soon.

“The first flight is scheduled for tonight. We have actually made a decision to begin evacuation of Russian citizens before a final decision is made by the meeting although we understand that Zhemchuzhnaya Reka (‘Pearl River’) tour operator will unlikely pay for the tourists’ transportation,” he added.

A representative of the Federal Air Transport Agency told reporters that IrAero agreed to transport all passengers of the tour company from Hainan at its own expense.

On December 7, IrAero suspended a travel program to Hainan and cancelled all flights because of a debt and regular violations of the payment schedule by Zhemchuzhnaya Reka.

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