Russia extends suspension of flights to Turkey

MOSCOW

Russia will extend temporary restrictions on flights to Turkey until June 21 due to the serious coronavirus situation in the country, the Russian anti-coronavirus crisis center has announced.

Air service between Russia and Turkey was temporarily restricted from April 15 to June 1, with the decision taken on April 12.

Meanwhile, flights between Moscow and the Belarusian capital of Minsk will be increased to up to 10 per week as of June 10, the Russian agency said in a statement on May 31.

Turkey is a major destination for Russian holidaymakers.

In 2020, Turkey welcomed more than 2.1 million Russian tourists, who accounted for some 17 percent of all foreign tourist arrivals last year, according to the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry’s data.

Turkey hosted 16 million foreign tourists last year, marking a 69 percent decline from 2019.

In 2019, over 7 million Russian nationals visited Turkey, up from the previous year’s 6 million people.

In the first four months of 2021, a little more than 550,000 Russians vacationed in the country, up from 317,000 people in the same period of 2020.

When Russia suspended flights to Turkey in April, Yuri Barzykin, vice president of the Russian Union of Travel Industry, said Russian companies were subjected to lose around 5 billion rubles ($65 million) due to the air traffic halt.