Turkish Airlines denied access to Belarus market

The Belarusian tourists who were set to take off to the Turkish resort of Antalia from the Minsk International Airport were eventually carrried by buses to Moscow. A Turkish Airlines flight from Minsk was cancelled. Rumours are spreading across the country that there will be no charter flights to the Antalian beaches from Belarus this season.

Pegas Tourist travel agency in Minsk which organized this flight has confirmed to the European Radio for Belarus that their clients on April 27 flew to Turkey via Moscow.

“The passengers that were scheduled to fly on April 27 to Antalia did not fly from Minsk but from Moscow”, the agency said.

The travel agency also promised that the problem with Turkish charter flights would be sorted out soon:

“We do not fly with Belavia. We fly Turkish Airlines. This issue is to be resolved within two days.”

Yet, it is unclear which of the two airlines is to become the winner. Pegas Tourism is the biggest operator for Turkish destinations. They have the cheapest holiday packages there.

Currently, it is impossible to fly with Turkish Airlines from Minsk, only from Moscow. The ticket from Moscow is almost $200 cheaper than from Minsk. The Belavia normally operates Tupolev-154, while the Turkish Airlines fly with Boeing and Ilyushin-86. Hence is the difference in the costs.

Here is what we have been told by the Top Tour agency in Minsk:

“For instance, your holidays start on June 1; you depart from Minsk to Antalia; your accommodation will be a three-star hotel for 11 nights. This package costs from $644 up to $721 per person. If you fly from Moscow, the prices are from $453 to $522, correspondingly.”

However, the rumours, that all the charter flights from Minsk to Turkey will be cancelled, have not been confirmed. Belavia, Belarus’s national air carrier, opened charter flights on April 28, according to Aliaksandr Burdzejka, the director of the Aerobelservice travel agency.

“We order our flights from Belavia. The first flight was on April 28. There will be more on May 8 and May 18…,” he told our radio.

The Belarusian travel agencies say that there is a bigger offer in Antalia this year, but the costs of holiday packages hover at the same level. Therefore, our tour operators are quite happy that a cheaper Turkish competitor has not been allowed to the Belarusian market.

As a result, during the fight for the market of flights to Turkey, the Belarusian state has won. Belavia has remained a monopoly during this season.

It is the ordinary Belarusian tourists who have suffered. They have a little choice: either to pay more money and fly from Minsk with the Belarusian carrier or to go to Moscow in order to save money.