First Russian jet lands in Turkey as relations take-off

The Boeing 737-800 plane, flying from Moscow's Vnukovo airport, was carrying 189 tourists when it arrived in Antalya's international airport after President Vladimir Putin officially lifted restrictions on tourism to Turkey as part of a normalisation of ties last month.

But the deputy governor of Antalya, Mehmet Yavuz, said Moscow has not yet given formal approval for charter flights, noting Saturday's Rossiya Airlines plane was more of a "charter-like flight".

"As you know, a charter flight is one that has been rented by a tourist company. This was a normal airline flight," said Yavuz, who is responsible for the airport.

The flight was the "first of the 2016 summer season" by the airline from Moscow to Antalya and had been performed with the full cooperation of the Turkish authorities, a spokesperson for Rossiya Airlines told AFP in Moscow.

Meanwhile, the head of Antalya's airport, Osman Serdar, acknowledged the tourist season had started in a "troubled way" and was happy to see the Russians arriving.

"We are seeing the first group of Russian tourists arrive. This will continue to increase and we definitely don't want to have these kinds of troubles again," he said.

Russia banned the sale of agency tours to Turkey as retaliation for Ankara shooting down a Russian warplane last November.

But the move was reversed on June 30 after Putin lifted the ban, allowing the once-bustling trade between the two countries to resume following eight months of tension.

This followed a letter sent by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Moscow in which contained an apology for the downing of the jet.