LONDON – InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), which accommodated the victorious Manchester United team in its Crowne Plaza Moscow World Trade Centre, is calling on the Russian authorities to relax entry visa restrictions. This is after its highly successful handling of the UEFA Champions League final. "The Russian authorities have done a sterling job fast-tracking its complex visa process to ensure the 50,000 British soccer fans who went to Moscow could get there at short notice." said Robin Wicks, IHG's COO Continental Europe. "This goes to show it can be done. Russia's current visa process is far too slow and is seriously hampering the emerging tourist trade. By adopting similar measures to those used for the Manchester United and Chelsea fans, the volume of tourism traffic could dramatically rise," he said. Passenger flow at Moscow international airports is booming; up from 19 million in 2002 to more than 33 million in 2006 and planned airport expansion will increase capacity to more than 85 million by 2012.