Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

Azerbaijan and Turkey, the two fraternal countries, enjoy fruitful cooperation in various fields, including tourism. Hundreds of thousands of tourists travel between the countries every year, and their number is going to increase in the near future.

The number of flights between the two countries may triple, the State Civil Aviation Agency under the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan informed on May 15.

The Agency noted that at the International Aviation Conference in Turkey, the delegations of the two countries exchanged proposals on this issue and drafted a protocol.

“The aviation authorities of both countries are currently studying the conditions for liberalization of air services. The final decision and signing of the protocol may take place in the near future, after bilateral consultations between the civil aviation authorities of Azerbaijan and Turkey with the participation of national airlines,” the Agency said.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan Tourism Association has informed that Azerbaijan Airlines CJSC and Turkish Airlines will operate flights to Antalya daily and twice a week respectively.

Moreover, the message says that given the high demand, daily charter flights to Alanya will also be organized, as well as direct flights to the resort cities of Bodrum, Izmir and Dalaman.

The Association also clarified the implementation of Buta Airways’ flights to Alanya, saying that since September 2017, the air carrier has been negotiating with Gazipasa Airport located in Alanya. However, due to technical problems, it was decided to temporarily carry out flights to Antalya Airport.

“The reason for the transfer is related to the need to ensure the stability of flights in this direction,” the Association noted.

Currently, the number of flights between Azerbaijan and Turkey is about 150 per week, and in summer it grows to 190 flights per week. As many as 301,553 Turkey citizens visited Azerbaijan last year, while the number of Azerbaijani tourists visiting Turkey was 765,514.

Majority of Azerbaijani travelers visit coastal areas of Turkey, such as Antalya, Bodrum and Kusadasi, mainly in July and August.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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