The closure of the Cypriot airline Cobalt Air has taken some Russian tour operators by surprise.
Let us recall that the company collaborated with tour operators such as TUI, Ambotis Holidays, BTA and Coral Travel, for whom the cessation of their partner’s operations raised the question – How can we take tourists back to their homeland?
TUI's press service commented that all of their tour operator's clients will be relocated to Russia via Ural Airlines, which is also their partner and primary charter flight provider.
"We have a small block of seats on Cobalt during the winter season. We also flew clients to Cyprus on their flights during the summer without any issues," commented Tatyana Kruglova, the tour operator's PR manager, adding that they are currently counting the number of tourists scheduled to depart soon.
Coral Travel also decided to evacuate tourists on its own, and BTA CEO Revaz Mgeladce stated:
"There are only six flights left until the end of the program. We have a small block—10 seats on outbound flights, and only 10 people on inbound flights. We're currently working on transferring them to other carriers. There aren't many tourists, so this shouldn't be a problem."
Ambotis Holidays has not yet commented on the current situation.
Passengers scheduled to depart Cyprus on October 7 and 18 are advised to purchase tickets on another carrier and submit the receipt to the ministry's accounting department, after which the agency will reimburse their expenses. Those scheduled to return home from October 19 to 24 will be transported on other airlines. To do this, travelers should contact the ticket agencies listed on the website, which will exchange their tickets from the closed airline for alternatives.
Despite the sudden flight cancellations, the situation did not have significant consequences only because the season was coming to an end and there was no significant influx of tourists.
Source: trn-news.ru