The airspace over Ukraine continues to be “closed” and will not be opened in the near future, which could have the most tragic effect on the Turkish tourist season – such statements filled the Turkish media. After Russia’s recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, “tensions between Russia and Ukraine, in which the United States and NATO play a leading role, have entered a new phase,” they said. First of all, this is expressed in the almost complete “devastation” of the airspace over Ukraine. After all, last year tourists from Ukraine took an honorable second place in Turkey with a tourist flow of 1 million people, losing the palm of the championship only to the Russians.
It is noted that after Europe, which “supports” Ukraine on the closure of airspace and the danger of flights, the United States said. “The security situation in Ukraine remains unpredictable across the country and may worsen. Any Russian military operation is likely to severely restrict civilian air traffic, “said US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, reiterating his advice to US citizens to leave Ukraine immediately. Those who choose to stay, despite this recommendation, are urged to “be vigilant and watch their surroundings” and, in the event of an attack, “seek refuge in bunkers and follow major news organizations when it is safe to do so.”
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As a result, now, according to Flytradar, Ukraine’s airspace is almost empty and almost all flights are not performed. Moreover, Turkish experts do not undertake to predict when the situation will stabilize and whether it will stabilize at least once.
It will be recalled that representatives of the Turkish tourism industry have already voiced panic forecasts – according to them, 50% of all tourists in Antalya come from Russia and Ukraine to Antalya alone. “We receive more than 4 million tourists from Russia. About 1 million from Ukraine. At the same time, under any political circumstances, tourists still came to us. But this crisis threatens to be global. At best, we will lose 1 million, “said Davut Cetin, president of the Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ATSO). Details on estimates of how much Turkey will lose in this case – read the link.
At the same time, we will add that in Turkey itself a warning has been issued so far only about trips to the eastern region of Ukraine, where tensions are high, but not to the whole country. Turkish citizens, if anything, are advised to contact the embassy in Kyiv. Not an unnecessary event – because flights to the country “Turkish Airlines” also canceled.