Russia has resumed flights to Turkey's southern resort town of Antalya after a ban that was imposed due to the military jet downing incident last November was lifted, Russian media outlets reported yesterday.
Rosaviation, the Russian civil aviation authority, has given the go-ahead for Ural Airlines to fly to Antalya, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported. However, the agency did not give an explanation for the decision.
Accordingly, Ural Airlines will fly seven times a week from the Russian cities of Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan to Antalya, which is the favorite destination in Turkey for Russian tourists.
The Kremlin had previously banned the sale of tour packages and charter flights to Turkey – as well as the importing of certain Turkish goods – after a Russian military jet was downed by a Turkish F-16 over the Turkish-Syrian border on Nov. 24 for repeatedly violating Turkish airspace.
In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order to extend Russian economic sanctions against Turkey. Ranging from food to travel, the sanctions were imposed after Nov. 24.
After charter flights to Turkey in late November were canceled, some Russian airlines and tourism operators decided to impose certain sanctions on Turkey. However, Turkish Airlines, which has a number of daily and weekly flights to Russia, has not yet been affected by the crisis. With the inflation rate under pressure since January, Russia has begun stepping back, easing the sanctions that were previously imposed.
