Head of Anex Group named possible dates of resuming flights from Russia to Turkey

The head of Anex Group, Neshet Kochkar, predicted a possible dates for Russian tourists to return to Turkish resorts and named a rival country that could weaken Turkey’s position in the autumn-winter season.

According to Kochkar, from the point of view of tourist results the current year should be “critical”.

Mr. Kochkar also spoke about the prospects of the returning of tourist flows to Turkey from two main entry markets - Russia and Germany. As previously reported, the German government did not recommend its citizens to visit Turkey until September 1. According to Kochkar, these recommendations will not be changed, since Germany does not trust the Turkish statistics on coronavirus.

As for Russia, the head of Anex Group, in turn, drew attention to the large number of cases of COVID-19, which are recorded daily. According to him, with the resumption of air travel, some of the Russians, infected with coronavirus, can come to Turkey, which will cause an outbreak, for example, in Antalya.

According to Mr. Kochkar, the restoration of air links between Turkey and Russia should not be expected in the near future. He recalled that recently the possibility of opening flights between the two countries since July 15 had been actively discussed, but now this topic has calmed down. In the best case, Russia will restore international flights from August 1, or it will happen in September-October.

In this situation, it will be important for Turkey when in the autumn Egypt returns in the Russian tourism market. If this happens, then Turkey will not be able to extend its season for Russians until October, because the country will face fierce competition with Egypt. Egyptian resorts during this period will have better weather conditions and more competitive prices than in Turkey.