Фото: Fly UIA
Ukraine International Airlines' charter flights Kyiv-Antalya, Kharkiv-Antalya and Lviv-Antalya, scheduled for July 1, were delayed due to a sharp seasonal increase and the restoration of air traffic between Turkey and Russia.
"Forced delays of charter flights to Antalya are due to a sharp seasonal increase in the number of flights, as well as the restoration of air traffic between Turkey and Russia, which entailed a significant complication of slot regulation. In this regard, the Turkish aviation regulator was unable to provide processing flight requests in advance," the airline informed on Thursday.
According to the statement, the air carrier and the Turkish aviation regulator are doing everything possible to promptly resume charter flights between UIA and Antalya during the day.
Passengers whose flights were delayed from Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lviv were provided with meals and necessary assistance.
"Passengers who were waiting to return to Kyiv on these flights from Turkey were partially transported to hotels. They are provided with meals, they will be transferred to a new departure time," the airline added.
Antalya Consulate working with Turkish authorities
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba instructed the Ukrainian Consulate in Antalya to work with the Turkish authorities to restore flights from Antalya, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Oleh Nikolenko has said.
"Due to the delay in flights from Ukraine to Turkey, the schedule of flights Antalya-Kyiv and Antalya-Odesa is shifted. Dmytro Kuleba instructed the Consulate of Ukraine in Antalya to interact with the air carrier to provide Ukrainian passengers with food and temporary accommodation in a hotel, to work with the Turkish authorities in order to restore flights," Nikolenko wrote on Twitter on Thursday.
Passengers should consider such unexpected trends in the summer season amid pandemic
As noted in UIA, in the summer season 2021, given the limited possibilities of tourist flights to European countries, the attention of Ukrainian tourists is focused, in particular, on the resorts of Turkey. It is specified that in June 2019, UIA operated 202 charter flights to this country, while 166 flights in 2020, and 505 flights in June 2021.
"One should also take into account the current growth in the number of flights to Turkey and to several other countries: in the aggregate, such trends have caused unexpected complications on the route," the airline said.
