Turkish Airlines to Resume Iran Flights

Turkish Airlines announced Sunday it will resume flights to Iran on Monday, following Tehran's expansion of international overflight access after a two-week suspension prompted by the war with the Israeli regime that ended under a ceasefire. Bilal Ekşi, Director General of Turkish Airlines, confirmed in a post on the social media platform X that the airline's flights to Tehran and Mashhad will resume starting Monday, ISNA reported. Turkish Airlines had suspended its flights to Iran following the Zionist regime's military incursion into Iranian territory and Iran's retaliatory strikes, which lasted 12 days. During the period, some Turkish Airlines aircraft were in Iran, but their return was facilitated as soon as airspace restrictions were lifted.

Iran has expanded access for international overflights to its airspace days after the war with the Israeli regime ceased. Spokesperson for the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development Majid Akhavan said on Saturday that only international transit flights would be able to pass through the skies over the central and western Iran, adding that airlines can also use the eastern half of the country’s airspace, which had already been opened to domestic and international flights, Press TV reported.

Also on Sunday, Akhavan extended suspensions of domestic/international flights in northern, southern, and western Iran until 14:00 Monday (June 30), adding, "Per Civil Aviation Coordination Committee resolution and safety assessments, while eastern airspace remains open to all flights, central/western airspace now only permits international transit flights."

The ministry spokesman said on Saturday that airports in the north, south, and west of Iran, including Tehran’s Mehrabad and Imam Khomeini International Airports, were not authorized to process flights. Akhavan said that related authorities were still assessing flights to airports in other parts of Iran and the general situation of the country’s airspace. He later told the semi-official ILNA news agency that the main airport in Tabriz in northwestern Iran was the only airport damaged in Israeli attacks, adding that the facility would soon reopen after repair works on its runway.

The official said that major international airlines would resume their operations in Iran as soon as the country opens all parts of its airspace. Akhavan said that pilgrims remaining in Saudi Arabia since early June, when they finished performing their Hajj rituals, are returning to Iran via a northeastern airport in the country’s second-largest city of Mashhad.

Airlines started to avoid the Iranian skies on June 13, when the Israeli regime launched an unprovoked aggression against the country. The Iranian airspace was partially opened on June 25, a day after the United States said it had brokered a unilateral ceasefire between Iran and the Israeli regime. Meanwhile, Hossein Khanlari, CEO of the Islamic Republic of Iran Airlines, denied rumors of closed air borders, saying, "To date, no country has closed its air borders to Iran," Mehr reported.

Regarding the return of remaining Hajj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia, Khanlari added, "Through coordinated arrangements in the eastern part of the country and the activation of Mashhad Airport, the route from Medina to Mashhad has been established, and the 20,000 remaining pilgrims will gradually enter the country directly from Saudi Arabia." He further stated, "Accordingly, Iran Airlines' scheduled flight on the Mashhad to Karachi route will be operated tomorrow from Mashhad Airport. The Islamic Republic of Iran Airlines has not yet operated domestic flights from its flight stations and, in this regard, complies with the regulations of the Civil Aviation Organization." - Iran Daily