Intourist plans to expand its charter program in Istanbul from new regions

According to available information, two more cities will be added to the list of the current 6 cities of departure to Istanbul, one of them is Adler (Sochi) airport. The second is Kurumoch airport, serving the cities of Samara and Togliatti. This was stated in an interview of Ismail Bolyukbashi, the commercial director of the tour operator Intourist, a member of the Thomas Cook group. The press service of Intourist confirmed this information, adding that these are the company's plans, but "not a final and accepted decision". 

This week Intourist announced that the company is the first on the Russian market to launch its own winter (from November to March) charter flight program to Istanbul from six Russian cities. 

Now, if the air carrier and Intourist have reached the final agreements with airports, the geography of charter flights to Istanbul from Russia will expand to 8 departure points, covering the Krasnodar Territory and the Volga Region. The frequency of the flights from Adler and Samara is still unknown, but some observers believe that it will be the same as in 4 cities of the current program - 2 times a week. 

According to Turkish observers, the expansion of the charter program will allow Intourist to add about 3 500 tourists a month to Istanbul in addition to 10 560 available air seats from 6 cities of the program. Intourist’s plans to expand the list of cities were largely dictated by the high interest of travel agents and tourists. Sales of tours are already proceeding at a good level, especially for the November and New Year holidays.