Nearly 350 Russian tourists arrived Sunday in Cam Ranh City on the inaugural flight of an air charter service that connects the locality and Moscow.

The Boeing 767 coded UT 5987 and operated by Azur Air, the airline unit of Turkish tour organiser Anex Tour, departed from the Russian city and landed at Cam Ranh International Airport, located in Khanh Hoa Province, at 8:40 am.

The 336 passengers onboard were warmly welcomed and presented with gifts by representatives of the provincial tourism department upon their arrival.

Russian tourists receive Vietnamese conical hats upon their arrival at Cam Ranh International Airport in Khanh Hoa

This was Anex Viet Nam’s first charter flight from Moscow to Cam Ranh, which is only 50km away from Nha Trang, home to famously beautiful beaches and a favorite destination for Russian holidaymakers.

Anex Viet Nam plans to offer six flights per month, bringing about 2,000 Russian tourists to Nha Trang, and hopes to maintain the service until the end of this year.

Russian tourists usually travel by air charter to Cam Ranh International Airport before heading for beautiful resorts and beaches in such tourist hotspots as Nha Trang, Mui Ne and Ninh Thuan.

Viet Nam welcomed more than 364,000 Russian tourists in 2014, according to the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism.