Even though Turkish Airlines isn’t cutting any routes, the airline has stopped selling tickets for travel from Russia to Mexico, in a move that’s sure to ruffle some feathers…
In this post:
Turkish Airlines adds restrictions on Mexico flights
For travel through July 31, 2024, Turkish Airlines has stopped selling tickets from all cities in Russia to all cities in Mexico. There’s no official announcement for this, but when you go to Turkish Airlines’ website to book a ticket, you’ll notice that all itineraries from Russia to Mexico show as being sold out.
You can still book tickets between any city in Russia and Istanbul, and separately book a ticket between Istanbul and any city in Mexico. Instead, this restriction just applies to selling flights between any potential city pairs when originating in Russia.
As you’ll see, as of August 1, 2024, flights are once again bookable as expected. It remains to be seen how this plays out, and if the restriction remains in place through July 31, if it’s eliminated earlier, or if it’s extended.
Note that this block on ticket sales is one-way. It’s not an issue to book a ticket from Mexico to Russia on Turkish Airlines, so this is a restriction on the origin.
Why Turkish Airlines is blocking ticket sales to Mexico
Last week I wrote about how Russia was warning its citizens about the risk of booking Turkish Airlines flights to Latin America. Authorities claimed that Turkish Airlines has repeatedly denied boarding to Russians traveling to Latin American countries, without an explanation for why.
Now, it seems pretty clear what’s going on — there has been an uptick in Russians seeking asylum abroad. A significant number of Russians are trying to immigrate to the United States, and are starting the journey via Mexico.
So presumably at the request of authorities in Mexico, airline officials have been trying to determine the intent with which people are traveling. Those with suspicious travel patterns, like booking one-way tickets, traveling with limited bags, not having proof of funds, etc., have been denied boarding.
Russian authorities demanded that Turkish Airlines provide an explanation for why it’s denying boarding to some passengers, and clearly wanted an apology. Turkish Airlines has now responded by simply not selling these kinds of tickets anymore.
It goes without saying that Turkish Airlines has no incentive to complicate things here — airlines make money by transporting people, and Russia and Türkiye are on good terms. So clearly the Russian government is just trying to play dumb to the fact that many people are seeking asylum, as if it’s a mystery why people are being denied boarding.
I am curious if we see this escalate politically, since I can’t imagine Russian authorities will be too happy about this move.
Bottom line
Turkish Airlines has stopped selling tickets between Russia and Mexico, even though the airline isn’t making any changes to its schedule. In recent weeks, Russian authorities have expressed frustration at citizens being denied boarding on flights to Latin America, and have demanded an explanation. Now the airline has responded by simply no longer selling these kinds of tickets.
What do you make of Turkish Airlines no longer selling tickets from Russia to Mexico?
Bring down the walls! Freedom of movement is a fundamental human right guaranteed by the UN charter of human rights.
I think the caption of second photo should be “ Turkish Airlines isn’t blocking Mexico to Russia ticket sales”.
The only country that Turkey is on good terms with is itself - and even that at a push!
In Turkey there are people running underground businesses targeting many foreign nationals who seek asylum related documents to support their case in efforts to get to the US. Russians are included as the target audience, on top of Indians, certain African and Middle East countries, etc. Turkiye actually announced a new e-visa requirement for nationals of 10 countries on April 15, 2024 for people transiting through Istanbul on their way to Colombia, Mexico, Panama or...
In Turkey there are people running underground businesses targeting many foreign nationals who seek asylum related documents to support their case in efforts to get to the US. Russians are included as the target audience, on top of Indians, certain African and Middle East countries, etc. Turkiye actually announced a new e-visa requirement for nationals of 10 countries on April 15, 2024 for people transiting through Istanbul on their way to Colombia, Mexico, Panama or Venezuela because it is pretty well known that folks are routing through Istanbul to a Latin America country before they start their journey northward to the US. Anyone traveling through Turkey to certain Latin America countries are subject to additional screening. I suspect the US govt had some discussions with their Turkish counterparts that the country needs to do their part to stem the illegal immigration because transiting through Turkiye has always been the easiest way for people looking to illegally enter the US
You’d think that Putin and cronies would be happy that Turkish (THY or whatever they’re called now) is stoping people fleeing to Latin America
Agreed. To stop this previously walls were put up.
Turkish just creating official deniability.
“We don’t sell tickets from Russia to Mexico”
While still selling tickets from Russia, and tickets to Mexico.
I actually believe russian authorities are very happy with this move by TK, they very well know that the people leaving are the educated, so to say, smart ones. No country wants to loose those people.
Ofcourse they will publicly demand explanations and what not, that's what they are expected to do, but behind closed doors I believe they are happy keeping people inside russia, just like during soviet times.
If Russians want to leave Russia they still have plenty of ways they could do it, many countries are still friendly/open with Russia. Of course I'm sure America would be the ultimate dream for many of them, but they can still go to other popular places like Dubai, Thailand, Bali, etc.
Personally I'm happy Turkish is doing this. Hopefully it will also translate to other Latin America countries as well.
There's daily flights to SYX, CAN,HKT to say the least, these folks can leave anytime they want.