Russians ‘upset’ about Moscow’s flight suspension decision against Turkey

MOSCOW

Russian holidaymakers have started an online petition against Moscow’s decision to suspend regular and charter flights with Turkey temporarily, asking the Russian officials to reverse the ruling.

With a show of frustration over the decision on social media posts, Russians mostly remarked that they have suffered losses after the last-minute decision.

Most social media users complained as they had to cancel the tickets and reservations they made with Turkish hotels.

The suspension over COVID-19 concerns will last from April 15 to June 1.

“We had arranged our vacation in [the southern province of] Antalya a long time ago. We were going to go at the end of April. Now things changed,” Simon Antonov, a lawyer, told state-run Anadolu Agency.

Bothered not to be visiting Turkey, Antonov also reminded his concern. “I do not know if I will be getting my money back.”“As a Russian, we had very few options for vacation and Turkey was the leading country. We are upset,” he added.

Yekaterina Smirnova, a social media expert, also had to cancel her plans due to the flight suspension decision.

“We had tickets to fly to Turkey in May. We wanted to have a family vacation and rest,” she said. “Who will pay my losses?”

Vladislav Mironov, an IT specialist, had chosen Turkey as his holiday destination because it was offering more affordable options in comparison to Russia.

“Hotels and resorts in Russia are too expensive. We do not have more options here in Russia. Russian hotels have raised prices,” he said.

Turkey hosted more than 2.1 million Russian tourists last year.