Maqsoud Asadi-Samani added that other domestic airlines can also apply for a flight permit to the neighboring country, Fars News Agency reported.
“In a meeting with Iran’s Ambassador to Turkey Mohammad Farazmand, Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoglu announced that regular commercial flights between the two countries would be resumed soon,” he said.
“Passengers need to provide their negative PCR tests for coronavirus, which must have been conducted not more than 72 hours before boarding.”
IranAir, the country’s national flag carrier airline, is also scheduled to resume flight operations to Istanbul on Sept. 25 at 12:10 p.m.
Passengers can book their IranAir flight tickets online via the airline’s website at www.ebooking.iranair.com or call +982146621888.
Turkey suspended flights from Iran following the outbreak of coronavirus in February, IRNA reported.
“Since then, Turkey recently put off the resumption of Iran flights for the second time; this time to Oct. 2,” said Touraj Dehqani Zanganeh, the head of the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran.
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.
“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 to extra cost and time. Qatar Airways does not operate direct flights between Iran and Turkey,” ILNA quoted Reza Jafarzadeh, the spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran, as saying recently.
Each week, domestic airlines have been operating three empty flights from Tehran to Istanbul to return Iranians to their home country.
“Turkish citizens who hold diplomatic mission documents are also allowed to travel to Iran,” Asadi-Samani said.