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First charter flights from Russia to Turkey will fly on September 4-5

MOSCOW, August 29. /TASS/. First charter flights with Russian tourists will fly to Turkey on September 4-5, Maya Lomidze, executive director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia told TASS.

"The first charter (flight) will fly on September 4-5," she said.

Earlier on Monday, some media reported that the charter flights from Russia to Turkey for clients of the Intourist tour operator will start on September 2.

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But a manager with the tour operator told TASS that the tours to Turkey with a departure date of September 2 the company offers on its website imply regular, not charter flights.

"We sell tours to Turkey, but these are regular flights by Turkish Airlines. I think, it is unlikely that there will be charters in the near future. In general, only one month of the season has been left, all (operators) grabbed blocks on scheduled flights and they will not change anything," the representative of Intourist said.

On August 28, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree lifting the ban on charter air transportation between Russia and Turkey.

Charter air service with Turkey was closed in Russia since the end of October 2015 after the Turkish air Forces shut down the Russian bomber over the Syrian territory. Russia imposed a number of restrictive measures with regard of goods and services from Turkey.

In August, after the Turkish President apologized for the incident and in the result of negotiations between the two leaders the parties decided to start rebuilding ties.

After examining the issues related to the safety of Turkish airports, Russian experts from the Transport Ministry reported to the government.

In late June, President Vladimir Putin lifted the ban on the sale of tours for Russians to Turkey. However national tour operators have been selling tours to Turkey attached to regular flights, until the ban on charter flights is lifted.

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