MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to TourDom.ru web portal, the ZF 8877 flight from St. Petersburg to Antalya by Azur Air (Katekavia) airline was supposed to take off on July 7 at 3 p.m. (12 p.m. GMT). However, it did not take place, as the Russian Travel Ministry has not issued an official permission for resuming charter flights to Turkey.
On June 27, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a letter addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, apologized for the downing of a Russian Su-24 attack aircraft by a Turkish jet in November 2015 and extended his condolences to the family of the pilot killed in the incident.
By doing so Ankara fulfilled one of the conditions put forward by Moscow following the incident that paralyzed the long-term partnership between the two countries.
Following Erdogan's move, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree lifting restrictions on Russian citizens travel to Turkey, specifically a ban on charter flights to the country and selling tour packages to Turkey.
