Turkey's Pegasus Airlines Resumes Flights to Russia

By The Moscow Times

Jan. 15, 2016

Turkey's Pegasus Airlines announced that flights between Russia and Turkey would resume on Jan. 15 as the Turkish crew's visa problems have been resolved, the RBC news website reported Friday.

The company said the problem had been resolved thanks to the combined efforts of the Turkish Transport and Foreign Affairs Ministries, the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian Embassy in Ankara, RBC reported.

Pegasus Airlines, a Turkish budget carrier, announced on Jan. 5 that it had suspended flights to and from Russia until Jan. 13 after Russian authorities failed to grant its crew members visas.

Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yildirim accused Russia of violating international aviation rules by arbitrarily denying visas to Pegasus employees.

Russia rejected the accusation that it was refusing to issue visas to crews of the Turkish budget carrier, saying the airline should have applied for them earlier.

Moscow suspended visa-free travel for Turkish citizens from Jan. 1 as part of a range of sanctions after a Russian warplane was shot down near the Turkish-Syrian border in November.

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