As of Sunday, April 18, 40 thousand organized and 50 thousand independent and transit Russian tourists are on vacation in Turkey, Dmitry Gorin, vice-president of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR), told Izvestia. 10 thousand people who bought vouchers through travel agencies have already returned home, the rest will go home on time, he added.
The data on the number of people “stuck” in this country to Izvestia was confirmed by the executive director of the Alliance of Travel Agencies of the Russian Federation Natalia Osipova. Over the weekend, the number could have changed, but not significantly, says Georgy Mokhov, head of the legal commission of the Russian Union of Travel Industry (PCT).
“If we consider that the last flight to Turkey from Russia was on April 14, and the average duration of rest is 7-14 days, the overwhelming number of tourists will return to their homeland by the May holidays,” counted Dmitry Gorin.
At the same time, there are no deadlines for return, all flights will be operated as scheduled. Thus, S7 Airlines, according to the flight program published on the website, will be engaged in transportation throughout April and May.
Also in April, you can fly from Istanbul to Moscow with Turkish Airlines, Pegasus and Aeroflot flights. The cost of tickets for some flights reaches 75 thousand rubles, which is much more than usual, a source in the travel industry told Izvestia.
In recent days, the number of COVID-19 cases in Turkey has exceeded the threshold of 60 thousand people per day. On April 18, 62.6 thousand cases of infection were detected in the country. In terms of the daily increase in the number of cases, the country has already moved into fourth place in the world after India, the United States and Brazil.
Read more in the exclusive material from Izvestia:
Get on the flight: most Russians will return from Turkey for the May holidays