A resident of Novosibirsk was stuck at the airport in Turkey due to a flight delay. Ivan Ryabov from Novosibirsk got stuck at Antalya airport, from where he should take a direct flight of Royal Flight.
Along with him are other Russians, including Siberians, who are forced to wait for the flight due to the postponement of flights. According to the Novosibirsk resident, the space of the Turkish airport is not at all intended for waiting — there are not even sockets here, and the carrier has not yet provided food, water and a hotel.
This morning we published the stories of those who came to Turkey and faced difficulties due to the closure of the borders. Among them was Ivan Ryabov — he visited several cities in Turkey on a working visit, visited Alanya, Antalya, Cappadocia and Mersin.
— They began to postpone my flight yesterday. Now they have set it, literally two hours ago, at 23:59 (hereinafter, the local time is indicated. — Ed.). I arrived at Antalya airport at 10 am and had to take off at 15:55. The flight was postponed for another 8 hours, — Ivan Ryabov explained to the NGS correspondent.
He failed to contact the carrier via the hotline, and on the airline’s Instagram the man was told to contact them by mail regarding the provision of food, water and hotel accommodation. But there he has not yet been answered.
— Antalya Airport is not designed for long waiting times. There are almost no seating areas here. Moreover, during a pandemic, their number was generally reduced. There are not even sockets for gadgets. The airline refers to the fact that the delay was due to this emergency, that Russia is closing its borders. But Russia closes the borders from the 15th, and today is the 14th. Why do people have such problems? Turkish operators do not even have registration queues, that is, there are no delays. This is not due to the influx of Russian planes that are in a hurry to take out Russian tourists — no, nothing like that. My friends flew to Moscow yesterday somehow, spent about 100 thousand rubles each on a ticket, because flights are canceled over and over again. Well, I’m still waiting, — added Ivan.
He noted that registration for other flights to Russia has now begun at the Antalya airport. However, as the Siberian says, the passengers had to sit on their suitcases for «several hours» at the airport.
The NGS correspondent was unable to contact the Royal Flight air carrier via the hotline — no one answered. We sent a request to the airline.
Now the airline’s website has published an official message, which says about the temporary suspension of flights to Turkey and Tanzania.
— The airline will provide the export of tourists who are currently vacationing as part of tourist groups on the territory of these states. The removal will be carried out in a planned manner. However, we would like to draw your attention to the fact that changes in the flight schedule are possible. We ask you to follow the news on the airline’s website, in the official groups on social networks, — the message says.
The closure of the borders became known on April 12. Until the beginning of summer, Turkey and Tanzania will be inaccessible to Russians, the reason is a sharp increase in the number of COVID cases in Turkey. As for Tanzania, in this country, the registration of those infected with the coronavirus is not kept, and no certificates of the absence of COVID-19 are required from visitors.
