Turkey's popular Turkish excursion region – Cappadocia, known for hot air balloon rides and stunning extraterrestrial landscapes – may in the near future become more accessible to Russian tourists. In an official document from Rosaviatsia, it is reported that the Russian authorities have allowed airlines to fly to this Turkish resort, Nevsehir Airport, which will replenish the number of airports available to Russian carriers. The Russian tourist market appreciated this permission with cautious optimism.
The details are as follows – as for the document, we are talking about a letter from the Federal Air Transport Agency to the main department of civil aviation in Turkey. In accordance with a confidential memorandum of understanding signed between the aviation authorities of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey on November 10, 2022, the Russian side chose Nevsehir Airport (Cappadocia) as one of the eight additional points in Turkey. It should be noted that at the moment, in addition to the airports of Antalya and Istanbul, Russian carriers can fly to the airports of Ankara, Bodrum, Dalaman, Izmir, Trabzon, Samsun and Gazipasa from anywhere in Russia.
As experts explain, this admission first of all “opens the gates” to the popular excursion region of Turkey, known for its extraordinary landscapes, cliffs and rock cities, and also becoming the center of Turkish tourism in hot air balloons. At the moment, excursion programs to this region are most often sent through Istanbul, combining a visit to Cappadocia and excursions in the Turkish “cultural capital”. Before the pandemic, the region was visited by 200-250 thousand Russians, which, of course, is incomparable with the millions of results of beach tourism, but in general the figure is quite good.
True, there is no talk of a designated carrier in the direction, ATOR experts estimated . In the current situation with transportation, in the summer season, most likely, the main volume of the fleet will be very busy on the “beach” directions – i.e. on flights between Russia and Antalya, Alanya, Bodrum and Dalaman, as well as Istanbul. One can expect some kind of active demand for Cappadocia only by autumn, when the high season is observed in the region. However, a number of tour operators note that everything depends heavily on the price of the ticket – if the prices for air tickets are acceptable – more interesting than connecting to Istanbul or at the level, then direct flights to Cappadocia are likely to be in demand.
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