Charter flights to Turkey have obtained 100 percent occupancy
Recently renewed charter flights to Turkey have already gained full occupancy as the tourist season there lasts until the end of October. The routes include almost all big Russian cities, but some of these cities have already found the way to expand the variety of regular flights. Anyway, charters at affordable prices will be also attractive as Turkey used to be one of the preferred destinations for the Russian tourists.
Charter flights between Russia and Turkey resumed on 2 September 2016 are performed with full load, reports Daily Sabah citing the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) President Dmitry Gorin. He says that despite the limited number of flights, tickets were sold fast and plane occupancy rates reached 100 percent.
At the same time, ATOR notes that Turkey's 'reopening' has not decreased the traffic to domestic resorts significantly, though it can happen later in October when climatic conditions in the Black Sea resorts turn worse, while Turkish Mediterranean coast offers milder weather.
As from 31 August, there were 63 charter flights established by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of Turkey, and 18 more were requested. The routes include Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kazan (the first flight to be held on 15 September 2016), Chelyabinsk, Nizhny Novgorod, etc. For instance, Domodedovo Airport (considered to be the biggest Moscow hub for charter flights) shipped 2,140 passengers with 100 percent occupancy of planes in just three days of September, according to the airport's press service.
It is worth noting that the amount of regular flights held by major Turkish air transporter Turkish Airlines (THY) has increased during the Moscow-Ankara crisis. Compensating the lack of charter flights, the airline ramped up the number of flights to Moscow to 11 a day. It includes 3 daily flights from Istanbul, 2 weekly flights from Ankara and 6 daily trips from touristic Antalya. Thus, THY used the half-a-year estrangement between the two countries followed after Turkey shot down the Russian jet as an opportunity to develop the business. The company also flies to Saint Petersburg, Kazan, Ufa, Sochi and 5 other Russian cities.
However, from Kazan THY operates only to Istanbul, and regular connection to Antalya and Dalaman is performed by two other airlines – Onur Air (Turkey) and Nord Wind (Russia). Actually, these flights are closer to charters: they are unavailable or very costly out of travel packages. Earlier this month, Realnoe Vremya already made a review of existing air connections and travel packages, and it showed that travel companies are skeptical about the upcoming charter start. They would rather offer their customers to use regular flights because of their accuracy and comparable prices.
Despite the skepticism of the operators, the head of the Association of Travel Agencies of the Republic of Tatarstan Ramil Miftakhov considers the charter flights to be in demand until the end of October. 'If the price is acceptable, people will fly. Despite having Onur Air and Nord Wind flights, charters keep being in demand: now the aircraft to Turkey fly full.'
By the way, the number of Russian travellers abroad reduced by 28% in the first half of 2016 by comparison with the same period in 2015. The experts mostly associate it with the closure of mass destinations – Egypt and Turkey. Part of the traffic was taken by Tunisia, Thailand, China, Cyprus and Greece, but they failed to fully replace the mentioned countries beloved by the Russians.