Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) President Maya Lomidze has announced that Russia and Turkey will not restart charter flights this year. Lomidze said Russian tourists are losing interest in traveling to Turkey following the failed coup attempt of July 15.
According to reports in Gazetem, a Turkish-language newspaper in Russia, a Turkish committee and Russian officers held a meeting on July to discuss issues related to the safety of tourists in holiday centers. At the end of the meeting, parties asked Turkey to submit a list of places that might be dangerous for tourists.
Speaking to Izvestia, a Russian daily, Lomidze said" "The committee will gather Russia's requests and Turkey's responses to these requests in a document and evaluate them."
Maya Lomidze said Russians' interest in spending their holidays in Turkey has fallen due to the coup attempt in the country, adding that those who had previously bought package tours to Turkey had not traveled.
Moscow announced a travel ban for Turkey late last year in response to Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane for violating Turkish airspace on Nov. 24. Last month, with the normalization process started between Moscow and Ankara, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered restrictions on travel be removed. Charter flights were expected to be scheduled for July.
