August 3, 2017 TnH Global

Charter flights between Turkey and India to start in 2018

Turkey and India are working together to improve tourism between the two countries, which is good news for travelers on both sides. A new preliminary agreement has been signed for charter flights between major cities of both countries.

Turkey served as a gateway between Europe and the Middle East and Asia for millennia, and today the Land of the Crescent Moon is a mix of the ancient and modern worlds. It comes as no wonder, then, that people are flocking to the Silk Road nation. Just in June 2017, the country saw a 43 percent rise in tourists from the corresponding month last year. And Turkey is now focusing on strengthening tourism to and from India with new charter flights between the two countries from 2018.

Efforts to boost tourism between the two nations got a boost after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited India in April 2017. The Turkish Indian Tourism Council (TITC) later allowed charter flights between India and Turkey, set to launch next year. Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), meanwhile, plans to hold its congress in Muğla, Turkey, with around 650 Indian agencies in attendance. A preliminary agreement for charter flights has already been signed, under which there will be a flight each week from Delhi and Mumbai to Antalya, Dalaman and Bodrum in Turkey.

Turkey is tapping the Indian market after seeing growing interest among travelers. Antalya, for instance, has been hosting Indian destination weddings. The two countries share a lot of cultural similarities, rising over the centuries thanks to the Silk Road trade. Turkey expects around 150,000 tourists to travel charter from India in the summer and winter holiday season of the first year. Emin Çakmak, chairman of the TITC, said that around 22 million people travel every year from India, and Turkey should bring in more travelers.