Pegasus Airlines (PC, Istanbul Sabiha Gökcen) has resumed scheduled passenger services to Russia following a two-week hiatus. Turkey's Hurriet newspaper says the LCC, which had suspended flights to Russia on January 4 after it was unable to secure visas for its flight crews, resumed services on January 15.

“The visa problem for our crews in Russian flights has now been resolved thanks to close cooperation and coordination by the Turkish Ministry of Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communications, the General Directorate of Civil Aviation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Russian Embassy in Ankara,” the airline said in a statement.

Russia imposed economic and trade sanctions against Turkey in November last year in retaliation for the latter's downing of a Russian fighter jet near the Turkey/Syria border. At the time, Russian president Vladimir Putin directed his government to ban charter flights to/from Turkey while advising Russian travel agencies to cease selling tours to Turkey.