Turkish Airlines has stated that the possible reason for the refusal of the airline’s staff on April 19th to allow a Russian passenger on board, traveling from Istanbul to Mexico, may be attributed to the position of the Mexican government. This was reported by “Izvestia,” citing a Turkish Airlines representative.
He indicated that the Mexican government is concerned about the situation with refugees, which may result in many people not being allowed on flights to the country.
“The problem is most likely with the position of the Mexican government. The issue is that many refugees are trying to enter the United States through Mexico. You always need to have a full set of documents, such as a passport and visa, but the reason is still that they do not allow many people due to refugee problems,” said the airline representative.
The company also stated that the refusal to admit a Russian tourist is not a problem on the part of the airline. Turkish Airlines noted that the likelihood of refusal for those traveling to Mexico with a Russian passport is quite high. The airline representative recommended, if possible, requesting an invitation from the Mexican side.
“If there are relatives or friends in Mexico, they can send an invitation for people arriving from abroad. They have such an opportunity. These are my personal recommendations that I can give you,” Turkish Airlines said.
On April 19th, Turkish Airlines refused to let a Russian passenger on board a plane that was supposed to fly from Istanbul to Mexico. A tourist from St. Petersburg said that he had all the necessary documents with him, and everything was in order. There were no problems at passport control in St. Petersburg, but, according to him, airline staff in Istanbul decided not to let him board the flight to Mexico after seeing his Russian passport, even without touching the folder with the documents.
The young man added that this was not an isolated case: several more Russian citizens were unable to leave Turkey. He contacted the company via email to request compensation of 60,000 rubles, which he spent on a ticket home.
Later, on April 21st, it became known that Russian diplomats in Turkey were awaiting a reaction from the Turkish Foreign Ministry and the airline’s management regarding difficulties with the transit of Russian citizens to Latin American countries.
Since the end of February, Turkish Airlines has not allowed passengers, including Russian citizens, on flights to Latin American countries for several reasons. As previously reported by the agency, Russians who were removed from flights cited reasons such as having a “clean” foreign passport or lack of luggage, and sometimes the motives were not stated at all. According to one of the affected individuals, the airline explained to her that the decision to refuse admission is made by a third-party company responsible for airport security.
