Ryanair has been given permission to fly from Dublin to Russia from March 2014.
The no-frills airline has secured approval from the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (FATA) to start the flights to both Moscow and St Petersburg.
Arch-rival Easyjet begin flying to Moscow from Manchester and Gatwick in March.
Ryanair spokesman Robin Kiely said that it was in talks with a number of Russian airports but these were “purely exploratory”.
The airline has also announced plans for a new base at Rome's Fiumicino airport where it will base six aircraft. Routes will include domestic services to Catania and Palermo in Sicily, plus Lamezia in Calabria from December 18. Ryanair will also fly from Fiumicino to Brussels (Zaventum) and Barcelona (El Prat).
Deputy chief executive Michael Cawley said: "This Fiumicino base will increase from six to 10 or 12 allocated aircraft from October 2014, when Ryanair takes delivery of its next new aircraft orders from Boeing."
ryanair.com