Air Link Between Russian Far East And Alaska Restored

The Russian airline Vladivostok Air will begin flying a new route next summer between Siberia and the northwestern U.S. state of Alaska.

A four-hour flight across the Pacific Ocean will connect passengers in Petropavlovsk, on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, to the Alaskan capital, Anchorage.

The last carrier to fly the route was Alaska Airlines, which discontinued flights in the late 1990s.

City officials in Petropavlovsk and Vladivostok have been working to develop their tourism industries, and the new flight connection is expected to give those efforts a major boost.

with agency reports