Over 30,000 Russians arrive in Antalya in less than 2 weeks on 239 chartered flights

Since Russia lifted its ban on chartered flights to Turkey, 30,850 Russian tourists have come to Antalya in a total number of 239 chartered flights between Sept. 2 and Sept. 14.

ICF Airport Antalya Airport Executive Board Member Abdullah Keleş said an additional 550 charter flights were scheduled from Russia to Antalya by late October, and about 100,000 are expected to arrive in Antalya on these flights.

Stressing that Russian tourist mobility also continued with scheduled flights, Keleş said about 350,000 Russian tourists are expected by the end of the year. Noting that Russian demand for holidays Antalya and Turkey are "quite high," Keleş said the numbers will go up along with the additional flights.

According to Keleş, the number of Russian tourists coming to Antalya will reach approximately 6 million this year. While the expected decline was about 50 percent, along with the arrival of Russian tourists, the lost amount will drop 42 percent, Keleş added.

All-inclusive hotels were again the favorite holiday spots for Russian tourists that poured into Antalya on charter flights following the eight-month ban. While tourists mainly prefer long holidays for about nine-11 days, the tours cost $650-$700 per head.

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.

Occupancy rates on charter flights from Russia to Turkey have reached 100 percent since the first flight took off two weeks ago. Last week, in a statement to the media, Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) President Dmitry Gorin said that despite the limited number of flights, tickets sold fast and plane occupancy rates reached 100 percent.

Domodedovo Airport's press service announced that 2,140 passengers flew to Turkey in just three days from Sept. 5 to Sept. 8, stressing that the planes took off with 100 percent occupancy. The airport is one of Moscow's biggest airports for charter flights.

Royal Flight arranged the first charter flight from Russia to Turkey on Sept. 2. According to Rambler news service, there are currently 123 scheduled and 63 charter flights from Russia to Turkey. ATOR also suggested that tour operators and airline companies have requested 18 more charter flights.

Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines (THY) has increased the number of daily flights to Moscow to 11, making the Russian capital, on a daily basis, its most-flown to international destination. Turning the crisis between Ankara and Moscow into an advantage, the airline set a new record by increasing the number of daily flights from Ankara, Antalya and Istanbul to Moscow to 11.

According to Gazetem, a Turkish-language Russian news portal, with three daily flights from Istanbul, six daily flights from Antalya and two weekly flights from Ankara to one of Moscow's biggest airports Vnukovo, THY is mentioned 11 times on Vnukovo's flight schedule two days a week.

Turning the delay in the charter flight permits into an opportunity, THY compensated for its passenger loss during the crisis between Turkey and Russia in a short period of time, using a positive and efficient strategy.

THY swiftly went to work in Antalya and increased the number of its daily flights to Moscow to six. Pleased with the current flight traffic, officials from Vnukovo Airport said that with the additional flight demand from Turkish Airlines, the total number of daily flights to Moscow will soon go up to seven between the two cities. Arranging mutual flights from 10 Russian cities to Turkey, THY flies to St. Petersburg, Kazan, Ufa, Yekaterinburg, Stavropol, Astrakhan, Sochi, Rostov and Novosibirsk in addition to Moscow.