No Flights to Turkey Until Nov. 1

EghtesadOnline: Flights between Iran and Turkey will be suspended until Nov. 1 to help curb the new wave of Covid-19, the head of Iran Civil Aviation Organization said.

News ID: ۷۵۱۲۱۵

07 October 2020

“However, Turkish Airlines, the national flag carrier airline of Turkey, and one Iranian airline are allowed to operate one flight per day to return their citizens home. The move aims to break up some monopolies, contain the rise in ticket prices and help passengers,” Touraj Dehqani Zanganeh was also quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.

On Friday, Maqsoud Asadi-Samani, the secretary of the Association of Iranian Airlines, said all flights between Iran and Turkey will be called off as of Oct. 4, based on a decision by Turkish civil aviation authority.

Airlines are only allowed to operate repatriation flights to return their citizens to their countries, he added.

Turkey has also cancelled flights to Iraq and Afghanistan, but failed to provide a date for resumption of flights.

This comes as Qatar Airways continues to operate Tehran-Doha-Istanbul and Tehran-Doha-Belgrade-Istanbul flights. Normally, plane tickets get more expensive when fewer airlines offer services so Qatar Airways fares are bound to go up soon.

“A full refund must be provided by airlines to passengers who have already purchased tickets; passengers have a right to reschedule for future flights as well,” he said.

Turkey had cancelled resumption of flights to and from Iran several times before, following the outbreak of the new coronavirus after initially announcing flight dates.