The end of the current week was traditionally marked by disturbing news for Russian tourists: according to the statement of the Turkish publication Airporthaber, in Turkey “the provision of various services to aircraft made in the USA and under Russian-Belarusian control has been suspended.”
Experts said that the decision was made by the decision of the Ministry of Customs and Trade, and at the direct request of the States, more precisely, in connection with the letter of the Office of Industry and Security about the export practices of the US Department of Commerce. The refusal to refuel and service Russian planes, if it is followed in Turkey, can deal a devastating blow to Russian tourism in this country, turning it from mass to elitist. Therefore, complete clarity on this issue has not yet arrived, it can be stated that the tourism of both countries is in a state of panic…
Later, however, there were clarifications that it is far from all planes, but only about 30 planes that are subject to sanctions — and they mostly belong to Aeroflot. Which has already announced that it will continue to fly to Turkey in the old mode.
The publication provides a detailed list of “sanctioned” boards with their numbers and carrier airlines. As a result, the aviation authority of Turkey partially satisfied the requirements of the US Department of Trade for the third time to stop servicing Russian aircraft that are on the department’s sanctions list. The essence of these sanctions is that refueling and related services are prohibited for liners containing more than 25% parts of American origin if they are bound for Russia and Belarus. The ban affected the refueling of liners and ground handling services.
In total, only 30 aircraft appeared in this list, and mainly Aeroflot – the national carrier has 2 wide-body Boeing-777s that fly as part of Russia aircraft carrier and 15 Boeing-737s. Also on the list are five Boeing-737s of the S7 airline company, 4 Boeing-737s of the Utair airline company, 2 Airbus-320 and 321 of the Yamal airline company, as well as one Boeing each of the “tour operator” airlines AZUR Air and “Ikar”.
As already mentioned, “Aeroflot” has already commented on the news. “Aeroflot operates regular flights to cities in Turkey, according to the schedule, as part of the declared flight program,” the national carrier’s press service reported. Experts also point out that this ban mainly covers narrow-body planes, which have a minimal impact on the summer flight program of tour operators to Turkish resorts.
We will remind you that the topic of sanctions by Turkey on Russian tourists has been developing since January, when the Havaş company, which services aircraft at Turkish airports, warned Russians, as well as Belarusians and Iranians, who were also subject to sanctions, about a possible ban on servicing “sanctioned” flights. And then, according to the company’s statement, about 170 Boeings of Russian airlines, as well as planes of airlines from Belarus, Iran, and “businessman Roman Abramovich” were at risk.
The Turkish publication “did not forget” to report that this is “the first sanction decision from Turkey regarding the embargo imposed on Russia worldwide.” Although strictly speaking, the first was the story with the “Mir” cards, which also developed from private to the general prohibition.