OREANDA-NEWS  The first signs have appeared that Turkish airports are beginning to refuse to refuel the planes of Russian airlines included in the US sanctions list. According to Turkish media, the country has added 44 aircraft to its own blacklist. However, Kommersant was able to confirm only two cases of refueling refusal, and all the planes returned to the Russian Federation. Kommersant's sources believe that the problem is not massive yet and "will be solved in any case," given the importance of the Russian tourist flow for Turkey. It is possible to create an alternative Turkish service structure ready to work with the risk of sanctions, or flights with an intermediate landing for refueling in the south of the Russian Federation. Russian airlines have encountered problems refueling American-made aircraft at Turkish airports. According to the Turkish portal Airporthaber, the decision to refuse refueling to aircraft containing more than 25% of US-made components, if they are traveling to Russia or Belarus, was taken on the instructions of the Turkish Ministry of Commerce on March 14 after a corresponding letter from the US authorities.

Kommersant's sources in Russian airlines confirmed the existence of the problem and assured that they are working on its solution. At the same time, they did not receive official notifications from the Turkish authorities or partners. According to Airporthaber, a total of 44 aircraft were banned, including 15 of Aeroflot. Aeroflot, however, stated that they operate flights to the cities of Turkey "in normal mode, according to schedule, within the framework of the stated flight program." The S7 says the same thing.

Two of the five S7 aircraft marked in the list returned safely from Antalya and Istanbul on March 16. On the same day, judging by Flightradar24, the Boeing-777 "Icarus" (PegasFly) had to be redirected from Istanbul to refuel in Sochi, after which the plane continued its flight to Moscow. Also on March 14, two Aeroflot aircraft from the list flew to Istanbul from St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg and returned without making intermediate landings for refueling. Other Aeroflot planes from the Airporthaber list, judging by Flightradar24, do not fly and have not flown to Turkey.