The first direct immigrant flight by Aeroflot landed Tuesday night at Ben-Gurion Airport with 125 passengers from various parts of the Soviet Union.
They arrived without fanfare on a plane of Transair, a subsidiary of the Soviet state airline.
The pilot, Capt. Nikolai Konov, indicated Transair would be flying to Israel regularly from St. Petersburg, once Leningrad. “From now on, there will be regular direct flights in accordance with the agreement the Jewish Agency signed last month with Aeroflot and E1 A1,” he said.
E1 A1, Israel’s national air carrier, will participate in the joint service.
Jewish Agency Chairman Simcha Dinitz said the direct flights were a new milestone in Soviet aliyah, which the agency had long sought.
They are quicker, more convenient, safer and more economical than the indirect routes through Eastern European capitals, which the bulk of immigrants have taken so far, Dinitz said.
He predicted the availability of direct flights might bring about a modest increase in aliyah.
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