OREANDA-NEWS. Basel Aero, a part of Russia's largest industrial diversified group Basic Element, announces that Sochi International Airport has added more Istanbul-bound flights following a recent introduction of the Open Skies regime.

There will be four flights per week by Turkish Airlines from the Sochi International Airport to the Istanbul Ataturk Airport starting November 1. After the Open Skies regime was introduced at the Sochi airport, Turkish Airlines has increased number of Istanbul-bound flights from Sochi from three to four. The flights are operated on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Apart from Turkish Airlines, a low-coster Pegasus Airlines will introduce three weekly Sochi-Istanbul flights starting from December 1. Currently, Pegasus has two weekly Trabzon-bound flights from Sochi on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Turkish Airlines has become the first foreign air carrier to take advantage of the Open Skies regime introduced in Sochi on October 19. The temporary regime is proposed for the Sochi International Airport for three IATA seasons starting Winter 2014-15 and, if success, it will become constantly valid.

Open Skies allows foreign airlines to operate flights to Sochi with no restrictions on number of carriers, aircraft types and frequencies.

Basel Aero estimates that Open Skies will help to boost number of international tourists visiting Sochi by 30 % year-on-year, increase the airport's annual revenues by 200 million rubles (USD 4.5 million) and add 3 billion rubles (USD 66 million) per year to Krasnodar regional budget.

The Russian Aviation Authorities has already informed 19 foreign countries - Armenia, Austria, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, China, South Korea, Netherlands, USA, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, France, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Japan - about the possibility to operate flights to Sochi under the new regulations.

Basel Aero has been negotiating with more than 20 world's airlines and has informed partners of the new possibilities.

Mahan Air, the second largest Iranian carrier, is close to a decision on operating its scheduled air services to Sochi from Tehran. The flights are expected to start in July 2015 with one weekly frequency to be doubled in August.