First Russian flight to Türkiye after Su-24 plane downing

Türkiye held a grand ceremony at Antalaya airport to welcome back Russian tourists.

On July 9, a flight carrying Russian tourists arrived in Türkiye, the first time since the diplomatic crisis between the two countries broke out eight months ago.

Turkish television channel NTV reported that a Russian airline, Rossyua Airlines, carrying 189 passengers took off from Vnukovo airport in Moscow and landed at Türkiye's international airport at 7:30 a.m. (GMT).

Russian tourists are welcomed at Türkiye's international airport (Photo: AFP)

Most Russian tourists book stays at luxury resorts near the city of Antalaya.

A solemn ceremony was held at Antalaya airport to welcome the return of Russian tourists and through that Türkiye wishes to show its hospitality and welcome international tourists.

Relations between the two countries became tense after the Turkish air force shot down a Russian Su-24 military aircraft participating in an anti-terrorism campaign in Syria in November 2015.

After this incident, Russia banned tours to Türkiye, causing heavy damage to the country's tourism industry.

Since late June, relations between the two countries have shown signs of improvement after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter to the Russian President apologizing for the above military incident.

In response, President Putin officially lifted the travel ban to Türkiye and assigned the Russian Government to negotiate and gradually ease sanctions against Türkiye.

According to statistics, on average, nearly 5 million Russian tourists come to Türkiye each year, accounting for 12% of total foreign tourists to this country./.

According to VOV