A representative of Turkish Airlines said that the airline did not impose any restrictions on the sale of tickets for Russians. The Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) announced yesterday that Turkish Airlines is notifying ticket agents in Russia about the suspension of ticket sales for flights from Turkey to third countries from March 10.
ATOR claimed that Turkish Airlines made this decision due to the blocking of Visa and Mastercard cards issued in Russia. According to ATOR, Turkish Airlines allows Russians to buy tickets “only with departure / arrival from / to the Russian Federation.” As stated in the Russian association, you can, for example, buy tickets from Moscow to the Maldives via Istanbul and back, but you can’t buy tickets on the Istanbul-New York or Madrid-Istanbul-Madrid route.
Turkish Airlines denies any restrictions. “Citizens of Russia can still issue air tickets on our official website to any destination, or they can do it by calling the hotline,” a representative of the carrier told TASS.
Since March 10, Visa and Mastercard payment systems have stopped serving Russian customers. This decision was taken against the background of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, announced by Vladimir Putin on February 24. In response, Western countries imposed tough anti-Russian sanctions and closed the skies for Russian aircraft, while Boeing and Airbus stopped servicing them. The authorities of the Russian Federation, as Kommersant found out, intend to keep Western liners and pay for them in national currency
Details – in the material “Kommersant” “Aircraft on the turnpike.”