On Saturday April 29th, Russia and Türkiye agreed to increase the number of flights to more than 1,300 weekly, as Türkiye becomes the main destination for Russian tourists since the start of the war in Ukraine. An estimated 7 million Russians are expected to visit Türkiye this year, up from 5.5 million in 2022 as more flights are planned between the two countries.
Dmitriy Gorin, Vice President of the Union of the Russian Tourism Industry, stated that 171 daily flights will be carried out from Russia to Turkey during the summer. There will be 1150-1200 flights per week, 750 of which will be made by Russian airline companies and 400 by Turkish carriers. In the summer season of 2022, both Russian and Turkish airline companies made a total of 750 to 850 flights per week. This is about a 30-40 percent increase compared to 2022.
From now on, Turkish airlines will be able to fly more regularly to Russian cities such as Kazan, Yekaterinburg and Saraktov, since airports in southern Russia are closed for security reasons due to the so-called “special military operation,” according to Efe news agency. In turn, they will fly 21 times between Moscow, Istanbul and Antalya, and 14 times between St. Petersburg, Istanbul and Antalya, the favorite summer resort of Russians.
There will be between 1,150 to 1,200 flights each week with Russian airline companies handling 750 of them while 400 flights will be with Turkish companies.
Dmitry Gorin, VP of the Russian Travel Industry Union
Russian President Vladimir Putin moved forward with the agreement after a telephone conversation this week with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Türkiye maintains a good relationship with the Kremlin despite its membership in NATO, which supports the Ukrainian army with arms.
Due to Western sanctions, Russians cannot fly directly to European cities, with Istanbul and Belgrade being the only two possible routes, which has caused ticket prices to skyrocket. To travel to Europe, many Russians have to travel by train or bus to Finland, Poland or the Baltic countries, from where they fly to other destinations in the West.
According to daily news outlet Hurriyet, close to 780,000 travelers arrived by air in Antalya, on the Mediterranean coast, with Russians topping the list. More than 213,000 Russians visited the city in the first three months, followed by Germans at 169,000 and Britons at 89,000. Tourist inflows from Germany and the U.K. grew around 50 percent in the first three months, according Kaan Kaşif Kavaloğlu, the president of the Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers Association (AKTOB). He noted that the increase in the number of Russian tourists was more than 140%.
