Arctic air expedition kicks off in Russia: report

MOSCOW - An Arctic air expedition, which will cover 20,000 km and cross nine countries, has kicked off from Russia's Samara Region on the Volga river, TASS news agency reported Tuesday.

Six Russians and one Frenchman on three small amphibious planes plan to fly over US Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Britain, Norway, Sweden and Finland, before coming back to Russia, it quoted the project's coordinator Sergei Alafinov as saying.

The planes will make about 50 landings and stops during their 40 day planned route along the Arctic Circle, he added.

The members of the expedition will also carry out various climatic, medical and biological experiments, to probe the Earth from low heights and to design future routes for air tourism in Russia's North.