Russia-Türkiye flights sold out after Putin's mobilization call

One-way flight tickets from Russia to Türkiye were sold out on Wednesday and through the weekend, hours before a partial mobilization of Russia's armed forces was set to begin, according to data from two Turkish carriers.

Flights from Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport to Turkey's Istanbul, Ankara and Antalya were sold out for the next three to four days on the national carrier Turkish Airlines' website.

The carrier is going to increase passenger capacity out of Russia for Thursday and Friday, a spokesperson told dpa on Wednesday.

Additional flights are among the options if demand continues at this rate, the Turkish Airlines official added over the phone.

The cheapest flights from Moscow to Istanbul were priced at more than 80,000 roubles ($1,321). Prices reached as high as 173,000 roubles on the Turkish Airlines website.

Likewise, private airline Pegasus' tickets from Moscow to Istanbul, among other cities, were sold out through Saturday.

Turkey is one of the few destinations Russians can fly abroad amid Western sanctions, along with Armenia and the UAE.

Several Russians, including journalists, fled to Turkey at the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February. Russians can enter Turkey and Armenia without a visa.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree late on Tuesday ordering a partial mobilization.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu put a figure of 300,000 on the number of reservists to be called up. In total, there are 25 million reservists in Russia.