Do you know your way around Russia?

The country is expecting more than 600,000 visitors during the 2018 FIFA World Cup – and we’ll have to see how Russia is going to cope with the masses. The biggest airline in Russia, Aeroflot, confirmed to Khaya that they will launch additional flights to the host cities for the Confederations Cup, but no news on the World Cup yet.

Although the World Cup will only take place in the European part of the country, to put the size into perspective, it’s more than 15 times the size of France. Only two of the host cities, Moscow and St Petersburg, have a direct train connection that is straightforward and of a high standard. This is very troubling, considering some trips will take more than 24 hours. Moscow to Sochi, for instance, could take up to 32 hours – and that’s not even thinking about the return trip. Roston-on-Don to Volgograd, for example, would take 12 hours – but prove quite expensive as it is an unpopular route.

Those travelling from Kaliningrad must take a flight, as the city in the West is far removed from the rest of the country. It’s astounding that almost all flights have to connect via Moscow. There is only a certain amount of space available at the airports and the airlines don’t have a master plan or previous experience in transporting so many fans to refer to. More information from the airlines is not as yet forthcoming, but hopefully in the coming months we will learn more.

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