Aeroflot is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its flights to Turkey.

To mark the milestone, Aeroflot is holding a celebration in Istanbul. A presentation on the airline and a seminar for travel and ground handling agents will be followed by congratulations from Aeroflot officials and partners, a musical performance and a prize draw for guests. The celebrations will finish with a retro show of Aeroflot cabin crew uniforms down the years. Both historically and recently the Aeroflot uniform has set the standard for style, elegance and reflected the spirit of the times.

Under the Soviet-Turkish intergovernmental agreement on air transport, in 1967 Aeroflot gained the right to fly from points in the USSR to Istanbul, Ankara and further into African countries, as well as the right to operate direct transit flights through Turkish territory in both directions.

Aeroflot’s Summer 2017 timetable provides three daily flights between Moscow and Istanbul on comfortable Airbus A320 planes. There are plans to increase flight frequencies on this route.

Istanbul attracts a steady flow of both business and tourist passengers from Russia. A substantial number of passengers flying from Istanbul transfer to points in Siberia and the Far East.

Besides Istanbul, Aeroflot operates flights between Moscow and Antalya twice daily on modern Boeing 737-800 and Airbus A321 aircraft. Flights to one of the most popular Mediterranean cities are in high demand among Russians.

Despite a challenging environment, Aeroflot is continuing to increase its presence in the Turkish market, as can be seen from the growth of its operational indicators. More than 147,000 passengers flew with Aeroflot from Istanbul and Antalya in the first five months of 2017. Demand for Aeroflot’s Turkey-bound flights is traditionally high, particularly in the Summer season when they post a 90-100% load factor.