The embargo will not prevent Turkish Airlines from carrying out the program for transporting Russian tourists – such a statement was made by Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board Ahmet Bolat to the Turkish media . The plan announced in the roadmap to rescue tourism from Russia will be implemented. Although at the moment negotiations are underway – since, in all likelihood, the air carrier has to overcome “sanctions pressure”.
Recall that block seats for Russian tour operators of Turkish origin on Turkish Airlines have become one of the stages of the “road map”, which was developed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and the Ministry of Treasury and Finance. Specifically, the second phase of this roadmap involves allocating 1.5 million block seats to three tour operators on Turkish Airlines flights. Bulk tour operators such as Anex, Pegas and Coral have teamed up with the Turkish national carrier, coordinated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and signed an agreement to allocate seats, according to Turkish media. As a result, Turkish Airlines has already allocated 1.5 million seats to these three companies for transportation. Read the details in the article “Turkey announces plan to rescue Turkish tour operators in Russia”
“This year, 6.5-7 million tourists from Russia were expected. Of course, things have changed in the current situation. However, Russian tourists still want to come,” Mr. Bolat said. He noted that the airline is “working on new formulas due to restrictions.”
In addition, in his interview with Sabah, Ahmet Bolat said literally the following. “Negotiations are underway with the Department of Tourism, OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control under the US Department of the Treasury) and the US Department of Commerce.” Such a statement allows us to make an assumption that they are trying to “put pressure” on Turkish Airlines because of their plans to work with Russia.
However, as the head of the Turkish carrier assured, even under the conditions of air sanctions, there are problems with the transportation of Russian tourists not on aircraft owned by Turkish Airlines. “Turkish Airlines has 70 own aircraft. On the agenda is the solution of the issue of transportation of Russian tourists by these 70 aircraft. In this way, 3 million tourists can be transported,” Mr. Bolat emphasized.
For those who care about a healthy lifestyle, we recommend reading: “Doctors named the foods that you need to eat at night to sleep well” .