Russia resumes international flights with UAE, Egypt and Maldives

MOSCOW: Russia has resumed international flights with Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the Maldives, a government order published on Thursday showed.

The government said it had authorized three flights a week to Cairo, as well as two flights a week to Dubai and to the Maldives's Velana International Airport.

Service sector grows

The authorisation came amidst reports that Russian service sector activity grew in August - albeit at a slightly slower rate than in July - thanks to a rebound in demand following coronavirus lockdowns, a business survey showed on Thursday.

The Markit Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) of services companies slipped to 58.2 in August from 58.5 in July, but stayed well above the 50 mark that denotes growth in activity.

"Russian service providers continued to see a steep upturn in business activity and new orders in August, largely aided by strong domestic client demand," said Sian Jones, an economist at survey compiler IHS Markit.

August saw Russia's second consecutive monthly expansion in business activity. The service sector returned to growth in July after four months of contraction.

IHS Markit said that firms in August had expanded their workforce numbers for the first time since February, although only at a very small rate.

Hopes for an economic recovery also helped business expectations reach a 10-month high, it said.

A separate survey on Tuesday showed Russian manufacturing activity returning to growth in August after having fallen for 15 consecutive months.