In the wake of the agreement signed between Russia and Turkey to resume charter flights, the first visitors arrived at Antalya Airport late Friday. A group of 309 Russian tourists landed at Antalya Airport on a Royal Flight Airlines Boeing 767 airplane.After the charter ban was lifted by Moscow, Russia made its first post-ban charter flight to Turkey on Friday. Taking off from Moscow, the Royal Flight Airline plane touched down at Antalya Airport's International Flights Terminal with its 309 passengers on board at 7:55 p.m.Welcoming the Russian tourists upon their arrival, Antalya Deputy Governor Halil Serdar Cevheroğlu said the scheduled flights were already ongoing and the first charter flight arrived after a nearly nine-month period. "We welcomed them on behalf of Antalya's governor and our country," Cevheroğlu said. "A total number of 309 passengers arrived and they are the first passengers landing after the first charter flight agreement." Cevheroğlu added that Turkey missed them as much as they missed Turkey and that Russians will be pleased to satisfy their wish to go to Antalya and Turkey just as Antalya will be pleased to welcome its longed after Russian visitors.Relations between Russia and Turkey were previously frozen in November 2015 after Turkish jets downed a Russian Su-24 bomber. Russia took harsh steps following the incident, imposing economic sanctions on Turkey, including a ban on tour packages and charter flights to Turkey. President Erdoğan sent a letter to Putin to celebrate Russia Day, the national holiday of the Russian Federation. The letter was considered to be an important step toward the normalization of ties between the two countries. Then, in late June, Putin signed a decree lifting restrictions on Russian tour firms working in Turkey and also eliminating other sanctions that had been put in place after the Russian jet crisis. Erdoğan especially brought up the issue of the resumption of charter flights to Turkey during the meeting he held with Putin in St. Petersburg on Aug. 9.