Tour operators will not be able to restore former volumes of flights to Turkey before end of season - "Izvestia"

UFA, 31 August 2016. /Bashinform News Agency, Ksenia Kalinina/. The Russian tour operators have started selling tours to Antalya after the abolition of ban on charter flights to Turkey. The first charter flight will take place next week. This year, the restoration of the mass flow is not expected so far, the "Izvestia" newspaper reports.

The Vice-President of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) Alexander Kurnosov said that the industry would need at least a month to organize the transportation. Then the demand will not be so high.

According to forecasts of the Chairman of the Association of Russian airports Viktor Gorbachev, it will take at least two to three months to resume charter flights in volumes comparable to the last year.

Alexander Kurnosov believes that in the autumn months the number of tourists to Turkey will be about 10-20 percent year on year. The expert of the Public Chamber for Protection of Tourists and Passengers rights Roman Bobylev said that even under the most favourable circumstances, in September the number of tourists could reach no more than a quarter of the level of the last September, and in October could be even less.