Turkey Suspends Iran Flights Yet Again

EghtesadOnline: Turkey has once again put off the resumption of Iran flights to Oct. 2, according to the head of Civil Aviation Organization of Iran.

News ID: ۷۵۰۸۵۶

02 September 2020

“We are trying to resume these flights with the help of Foreign Ministry and other related offices,” Touraj Dehqani Zanganeh was also quoted as saying by Azad News Agency.

Previously, Turkish Airlines had announced it would start operating flights to five Iranian cities as of Sept. 1 for passengers holding Turkish citizenship or permanent residency.

On July 19, Turkey cancelled flight permits to and from Iran due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“As a result, passengers who wish to travel from Iran to Turkey have to take Qatar Airways flights to Doha and then take another plane to their final destination. That will add extra cost and time. Qatar Airways does not operate direct flights between Iran and Turkey,” ILNA quoted Reza Jafarzadeh, the spokesperson of CAO, as saying recently.

Earlier, Jafarzadeh said Turkey has not reopened its borders for Iranian tourists and only Turkish citizens and those who hold work visas are allowed to travel to that country.

Therefore, selling tour, transportation and accommodation services before normal flights resume is unlawful, he added.

“Airlines must have control over ticket sales. They are only allowed to sell tickets after securing flight permits to foreign countries. Passengers are also advised to check the flight status at www.cao.ir before buying tickets,” he was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.

Resumption of Int'l Flights

Turkey's postponement of flight resumption to and from Iran comes as many countries and international airlines have already restarted their schedules with the Islamic Republic.

Regular flights between Iran and Spain will resume after 17 years, following negotiations carried out by the Iranian Embassy in Spain, the Iran Civil Aviation Organization and IranAir (the country’s flag carrier airline) with related Spanish institutions, a statement by the embassy reads.

IranAir will resume roundtrip Tehran-Madrid flights on Sept. 2. The airline will offer weekly flights to Spain’s capital on Wednesdays; the aircraft will depart from Imam Khomeini International Airport at 08:45 a.m. and the return flight will leave Madrid on the same day at 03:30 p.m. local time, ISNA reported.

The country’s flag carrier airline also resumed roundtrip Tehran-Vienna flights as of August 15.

The airline now offers weekly flights to Austria’s capital on Saturdays; the aircraft will depart from Imam Khomeini International Airport at 08:40 a.m. and the return flight will leave Vienna on the same day at 11:50 a.m. local time.

Meanwhile, IranAir inaugurated services to Manchester Airport from Tehran last month. The weekly flight is serviced by its fleet of two Airbus A330-200 aircraft operating on Saturdays.

These aircraft offer 32 seats in Business class followed by 238 in Economy, Airways magazine reported.

The first flight departed from Tehran at 0555L before arriving in Manchester at 0900L on June 3. The return flight then departed around 1030L before arriving in Tehran at 2015L.

Emirates landed its Boeing-777 at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport on July 17.

Air Arabia also resumed Sharjah–Shiraz-Sharjah flights earlier in August. The airline operates two weekly flights.

Qatar Airways recently increased the number of its weekly flights to Tehran from 17 to 21.

Qatar Airways also resumed passenger flights to Mashhad on Saturday. According to local officials, the airline is set to operate four weekly flights to Mashhad in northeast Iran. The airline has also reopened passenger flights to Isfahan and Shiraz.

As of June 17, Qatar Airways operates 25 weekly flights to four major cities in Iran.

Mashhad International Airport hosted Afghanistan's Kam Air jets recently. The airline operates direct from Kabul, Herat and Kandahar to Mashhad. The airport monitors passengers' health status mainly through temperature checks and physical distancing measures.

Zanganeh said IranAir has secured the flight permit to Germany and is awaiting the green light of Germany’s Federal Ministry of Health.

It will resume flights to three German cities as soon as the European health authority gives the go-ahead, IRNA reported.

According to the secretary of the Association of Iranian Airlines, Mahan Air resumed flights to Iraq’s Basra International Airport as of Aug. 23.  Maqsoud Asadi-Samani has also been quoted as saying that flights to other Iraqi cities, including Baghdad, Najaf, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, will also resume soon.

Moreover, Mahan Air recently announced the resumption of Tehran-Moscow flights for holders of valid residence permit or Russian passport by fully observing health guidelines amid the pandemic.

Mahan Air says such passengers can travel between Tehran and Moscow, provided all passengers fully observe health protocols and guidelines related to the pandemic.