Bloomberg says Turkey has failed to convince Russia for flights to Turkey
A senior official speaking to Bloomberg has said flights from Russia to Turkey would begin from June 15 at the earliest. Turkey has failed to convince Russia, the agency wrote.
The report said the visit paid to Russia by Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy together with Deputy Health Minister Tolga Tolunay for the expected decision for the tourist season had not been released. Speaking to Bloomberg, the official said Russia could not be persuaded for the season opening on June 1.
Turkey, which has intensified its contacts to restart Russian flights to Turkey, which Russia suspended before the tourist season, beginning on June 1, may not be able to start receiving Russian tourists at said date. A senior official said the earliest date for the opening of air traffic is now June 15.
RUSSIA WANTS TIME
President Ibrahim KALIN, along with Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, went to Moscow yesterday to discuss Russia’s decision to suspend flights to Turkey before the tourist season. KALIN who made statements after the visit, accompanied by Deputy Minister of health Tolga Tolunay, said that an agreement had been reached on the steps to be taken to start flights from Russia and speed up the process, noting that a calendar had been set in the near term, on this issue.
Ersoy noted that Turkey’s demands for reopening air traffic had been met positively by Russia and said “they just wanted some time to observe it on the spot and make a final decision.”
But Russian airline Aeroflot has removed June tickets to Turkey from sale, except for two flights a week to Istanbul, Russia’s Tass news agency reported.
AIRLINES SUSPEND FLIGHTS
Russian private airline S7 Airlines has suspended flights to Turkey until the end of the summer season. S7 Airlines said in a statement that the firm had suspended flights to Turkey from April 15 until the end of October.
Another Russian airline, Aeroflot, said in a statement that all flights to Turkey for June had been cancelled and ticket sales suspended.
