Transportation of tourists from Turkey to cost Kazakhstan $1 million

The first group of Kazakhstan tourists who could not leave Turkey because of the airline's bankruptcy came back to Kazakhstan on June 9, Tengrinews.kz reports from the briefing of Kazakhstan Tourist Association (KTA) in Almaty airport. Kazakhstan Emergency Situations Ministry is working to bring the tourists back to Kazakhstan. One round-trip flight costs the Kazakhstan government $130 thousand. Three airplanes with Kazakhstan tourists arrived on June 9. Two more flights are expected on June 10: the tourists will be carried by two Fokkers. The rest of the passengers will be picked up on June 11. According to KTA President Roza Assanbayeva, four flights will be enough to take the remaining tourists back. Thus, according to the preliminary calculations, transportation of all Kazakhstan citizens who are stuck in Turkey will cost the government $1.1 million. “Thousands of our citizens have suffered from bankruptcy of Turkish air company Sky Airlines. Citizens of Belgium, Germany, Albania, Serbia and other countries suffered as well. Germany picked up its tourists on the very first day, as the Europeans had an insurance for failed flights,” Assanbayeva said. “I would like to remind that our tourists should also have insurances for all cases, including for a failed flight.” According to KTA head, Kazakhstan needs to create a special compensation fund that would deal with problematic tours. “If we had such fund, our tourists would have been transported at its expense. It should be established by tourist agencies,” she said. First three airplanes owned by Kazakhstan Emergency Situations Ministry arrived in Almaty airport on June 9. The arriving tourists looked happy. They told the journalists that Kazakhstan embassy in Turkey, Kazakhstan Emergency Situations Ministry and the government took care of all the necessary accommodation and catering. “We were staying in a hotel. Food was served there. So we had two extra days of vacation,” one of the tourists said. None of the tourists are known to be planing to file lawsuits over the flight delay. By Roza Yessenkulova