Russia intends to abolish charter flights to Turkey
Russian airlines have received a telegram from Rosaviatsia (Russian Federal Air Travel Agency) warning of a possible suspension of charter flights to Turkey's airports.
This was reported by the newspaper Kommersant, with reference to a source in a tour operator company.
According to the source, the relevant decision may have been made in relation to the difficult domestic political situation in Turkey. A source in Rosaviatsia also confirmed this information to the publication.
At the same time, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia stated that such a ban "does not exist at the moment" and suggested that the talk is about possible warnings in the case that, regarding the political events in Turkey on April 16, "the situation goes into a negative scenario where there would be some tension. "
A referendum on changes to the constitution of Turkey is scheduled on April 16; the parliamentary republic is planned to turn into a presidential one.
Russian airlines have not flown to Turkey since late November 2015. The ban was introduced after the Turkish military shot down a Russian Su-24 on the border with Syria. According to Ankara, the plane violated Turkey's airspace, despite numerous warnings. The Ministry of Defense of Russia denied this information, arguing that the aircraft was over Syria.
At the end of June, Russian President Vladimir Putin abolished the ban on the sale of tickets to the country. This happened after the Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent deep condolences to the family of the Russian pilot whose plane was shot down for violating Turkey's airspace.