Altai region opens direct flights between Barnaul and Ulan Bator

BARNAUL, November 3 (Itar-Tass) - The Russian Altai region will open
direct flights between Barnaul and Ulan Bator, sources from the department
for international and inter-regional ties of the regional administration
told Tass on Tuesday.
At the present moment, Russia and Mongolia are connected by the only
passenger flight from Moscow. Officials from the Mongolian National
Chamber for Trade and Industry have visited Altai and discussed the new
route.
"The Mongolian side agrees that such step will help expand our trade
and economic ties. We intend to shortly once again focus the attention of
that country's authorities on the issue of air communication," the head of
the department, Alexander Zhilin, said.
He said there are two options in organizing that. One is to "extend"
the existing route Bayan Ulgi-Almaty to Barnaul. It will make tickets more
expensive for Mongolian and Kazakh passengers, Zhilin believes.
The second option is to launch a regular flight Bayan Ulgi-Ulan
Bator-Barnaul. "To open that route Mongolia needs to buy an An-24 plane,
and this is the difficulty as there is no money. Unfortunately, Russian
companies have demonstrated no interest in that project," Zhilin said.
Railway and highway communication between Altai and Western Mongolia
takes at least a week.
-0-zhe/gor