The new Turkish airline Southwind, using the Russian airport of Ufa, announced plans to start flights to Russia as early as August 2022. To do this, it is necessary to expand the quotas of the Ministry of Transport. Any new transportation will be useful to the market, experts say.

Turkish Airlines Southwind (a new airline created for the Russian market) and Corendon Airlines may open new flight programs from Ufa to Antalya, follows by a message on the website of the airport of the capital of Bashkiria.

Corendon Airlines plans to launch flights to Antalya from July 26 and fly 4 times a week, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, on Boeing 737-800 aircraft with a capacity of 189 passengers.

A NEW CARRIER FROM TURKEY MAY APPEAR ON THE RUSSIAN MARKET
In addition, from August 2, flights to Antalya can be launched by the new Turkish carrier Southwind (it was created specifically to transport tourists from the Russian Federation). The expected frequency of flights will be 6 times a week. It is planned that the flights will be operated by Airbus A321 aircraft with a capacity of 220 passengers.

“Thus, the number of flights from Ufa to Antalya in the tourist season of 2022 will increase to 22 per week,” the press service of Ufa Airport said in a statement.

At present, key market players do not have other details regarding these flights and which tour operators will use them in the formation of the tourist product.

NEW CARRIER WILL REQUIRE NEW QUOTAS
“So far we do not know the details - they can appear only after obtaining permission to operate flights from both the Russian and Turkish sides,” says one of the ATOR Vestnik interlocutors, who is familiar with Southwind's plans.

Experts also note that according to the text of the message, it is logical to assume that Southwind expects to obtain permission to fly to Russia within the new quotas of the Ministry of Transport.

“The quota approved by the Ministry of Transport for three Turkish airlines ends in July. According to this quota for July, there was an increase of about 40 flights compared to the previous period (from May 15 to June 20): the quota was about 540 flights, and now it is 580. If the quota for August is increased and the airline receives permission from the Russian side, then they can fly,” another editorial source explains, expressing the hope that in August the flight program will be expanded due to the high season.

TRANSPORTATION TO TURKEY FROM THE REGION IS NOT ENOUGH TODAY
Participants in the tourism market do not hide the fact that at the moment there is not enough transportation to Turkey and new flights will have a positive impact on the industry.

In addition, earlier Rostourism, for its part, also noted the usefulness of such initiatives. In particular, the emergence of new flights to Turkey will allow tour operators to fulfill their obligations to tourists.

Today there are tours from Ufa to Turkey, they are formed on the basis of transportation of AZUR Air to Dalaman and RedWings to Antalya by tour operators Pegas Touristik, ANEX Tour, and Intourist.

“There are few places left for departures from Ufa: by July 26 everything has been sold, by July 30 there are already the last places left. A similar picture is in August," representatives of Intourist say.