The SU-6295 flight arrived safely at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport on Monday at 8:20 a.m. local time after departing from Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday at 3:05 p.m., covering a distance of 10,600 kilometers.

The direct maiden flight using Boeing 777-300ER aircraft carries 297 passengers.

A welcoming ceremony was held for the flight, where the passengers received flower garlands and were entertained with Sekar Jepun dance performance. 

Among the attendees were the Indonesian Ambassador to Russia and the Republic of Belarus M. Wahid Supriyadi, the Tourism Ministry's head of marketing division area IV Agus Setiawan, the head of the political section of the Embassy of the Russian Federation to Indonesia Andrey Kuznetsov and president director of GSA of Aeroflot Indonesia, Agustinus Kasjaya Pake Seko.

"Today is one of the historical days in the relations of the two countries. Thirty years ago there was a direct charter flight service [between Russia and Indonesia]. Hopefully this direct flight service will benefit many, especially tourists," said Wahid in in a statement as quoted by Tribun Bali.

He added that last year the number of Russian tourists to Indonesia increased by 37 percent to 110,000 people. "With this direct flight service, we are targeting to have 35,000 tourists carried each year by Rossiya, increasing the total number of tourists to 145,000.” 

Read also: Crossing Siberia, from Moscow to Mongolia

Russia is reportedly one of the top five European countries that contribute to tourist arrivals to Bali. 

According to its schedule, Aeroflot will serve the Moscow-Denpasar route three times a week, on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Meanwhile, the Denpasar-Moscow route will operate on Monday, Thursday and Saturday, departing from the Bali city at 10:05 a.m. and arriving in Moscow at 5:50 p.m.

I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport reportedly welcomed up to 80,975 Russian tourists in September, an increase of 10.38 percent from a similar period last year.

Founded in 1923 and one of the oldest airlines in the world that is still operating, Aeroflot is the national flag carrier of Russia. In 2017, it reportedly served 32.8 million passengers across 146 routes from 52 countries.

Established in 1934 with the name Pulkovo Airlines, Rossiya Airlines joined Aeroflot Group in 2011. In February 2016, the carrier conducted a merger with two other airlines under the flag of Aeroflot Group, namely Donavia and Orenair. (iru/kes)