Charter flights from Russia to Turkey may begin in August

Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) head Maya Lomidze has amended recent comments regarding charter flights to Turkey. After saying on Tuesday that Russia and Turkey will not restart charter flights in 2016, on Wednesday Lomidze announced that Russia might initiate charter flights to Turkey in the middle of August, barring new troubles in Turkey.

The news that Russian tourists were losing interest in traveling to Turkey following the failed coup attempt of July 15 was reported by several newspapers in Russia including Izvestia, Lomidze said, so she had speculated based on this that charter flights would not begin until 2017. She changed her mind a few hours later, after she talked to Russian government's official newspaper, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, and said Turkish and Russian delegations had addressed a guarantee of security in Moscow on July 15. Lomidze added: "However, I did not say during these talks that the Turkey will never be open as a destination in 2016. I just emphasized that Russia prioritizes security, and that this issue has become more topical after the failed coup attempt."

Lomidze said authorities from the two countries may agree on carrying tourists to Turkey using both scheduled and charter flights toward the middle of August, unless new troubles emerge in Turkey. She declared, "It seems some Russian newspapers distorted my statements."

Relations between Russia and Turkey were frozen in November 2015 after Turkish jets downed a Russian Su-24 bomber near the Syrian border for violating Turkish airspace. In June, following the beginning of a normalization process between Moscow and Ankara, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered restrictions on travel be removed, including a ban on tour packages. Charter flights were expected to be scheduled for July.