Cuba and Russia renewed their alliance with a commitment to increase cooperation in aviation services and training, according to Cuban media reports Friday.

 

Longtime aviation partners the Cuban Civil Aeronautics Institute and Russian Transport Ministry signed a deal which covers tourism, cargo and passenger services, the Cuban official daily Granma reported.

 

Visiting Russian Transport Minister Igor Yevgenyevich Levitin said after the signing ceremony, "We have increased relations in the delivery of Russian aircraft and the training and testing of pilots, with an eye toward a 20 percent annual increase in Russian tourists to this country."

 

Cuba purchased five new Russian aircraft last year to serve the two million visitors to Cuba annually.

 

Levitin said he agreed with his Cuban counterpart Jorge Luis Sierra to set up working groups to look at rail and maritime transportation cooperation.

 

(Xinhua News Agency July 9, 2007)