Russia imposes restrictions on regular and chartered air service with Turkey for a period from April 15 to June 1 to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said on Monday.
“We have taken a decision to restrict regular and chartered air service from Russian international airports to Turkish airports and back from April 15 to June 1, except flights necessary for the participation of Concern Titan-2 Joint-Stock Company in the construction of a nuclear power plant <…>, bringing Russian nationals vacationing in Turkey home,” she said, adding that two flights, from Moscow to Istanbul and from Istanbul to Moscow would only be allowed per week on a reciprocal basis.
Apart from that, Russia suspends air service with Tanzania from April 15 to June 1. “Based on the analysis of the epidemiological data, we have decided to suspend air service with Tanzania <…> from April 15 to June 1,” the deputy prime minister said.
Air service with Tanzania and Turkey will be resumed when the coronavirus situation in these countries stabilizes, according to Tatiana Golikova. “I would like to stress that we will keep a close eye on the situation. And if the situation in Turkey and Tanzania stabilizes, we will keep our nationals duly informed so that they could buy travel packages to these countries,” she said.
According to the latest statistics, around 136.1 million people have been infected worldwide and more than 2.9 million deaths have been reported.
To date, 4,649,710 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 4,272,165 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 103,263 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.
At the same time, the S7 airline suspends all flights to Turkey following the decision of the anti-coronavirus crisis center to restrict flights to that country and is awaiting information on transportation of Russians, the carrier announced on Monday.
“According to the decision of the anti-coronavirus crisis center, S7 Airlines has to suspend regular flights to Turkey from April 15 to June 1 (Moscow – Antalya, Dalaman; Novosibirsk – Antalya). We are currently awaiting official information on the procedure for repatriation of Russians. We will promptly inform passengers about the necessary actions,” the airline said.
The company added that passengers of S7 with shcheduled flights from Moscow to Turkey on April 13 and 14 will be able to return tickets without paying a penalty.
Earlier on Monday, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, who heads the federal anti-coronavirus crisis center, said that Russia decided to limit passenger air traffic with Turkey from April 15 to June 1 due to a new outbreak of coronavirus in that country: the number of flights will be reduced to two per week on a reciprocal basis.
Flights to Tanzania will also be suspended. At the moment, eight Russian airlines operate regular flights to Turkey: Aeroflot, Pobeda, Rossiya, S7, Nordwind, as well as UTair (the only carrier flying not from Moscow and St. Petersburg, but from Grozny), Azur Air and Ural Airlines.
Russia suspended regular flights to Turkey in the spring of 2020 amid the pandemic to resume them from August 1, 2020. / Tass