Forced delays of charter flights to Antalya (Turkey) are caused by problems on the Turkish side due to the increased demand for the destination, Ukraine International Airlines (UIA, Kyiv) said.

"Forced delays of charter flights to Antalya (scheduled departure on the night of July 1, 2021) are due to a sharp seasonal increase in the number of flights, as well as the restoration of air traffic between Turkey and Russia, which entailed a significant complication of slot regulation. In this regard, the Turkish aviation regulator was unable to provide processing flight requests in advance," the airline said on Thursday.

According to UIA, delays affected charter flights Kyiv-Antalya, Kharkiv-Antalya and Lviv-Antalya.

"The air carrier and the Turkish aviation regulator are doing everything possible to promptly resume charter flights between UIA and Antalya during the day," the airline said in the statement.

UIA said passengers of the delayed flights were provided with all the necessary assistance. In particular, everyone who had to fly from Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lviv was provided with hot and cold meals.

"Passengers who were waiting to return to Kyiv on these flights from Turkey were partially transported to hotels. They are provided with meals, they will be transferred to a new departure time," the airline said.

As noted in UIA, in the summer season 2021, given the limited possibilities of tourist flights to European countries, the attention of Ukrainian tourists is focused, in particular, on the resorts of Turkey. It is specified that in June 2019, UIA operated 202 charter flights to this country, while 166 flights in 2020, and 505 flights in June 2021.

"One should also take into account the current growth in the number of flights to Turkey and to a number of other countries: in the aggregate, such trends have caused unexpected complications on the route," the airline said.