Turkey’s four main carriers have suspended flights to seven Middle East countries through March 31 after a new round of airspace closures linked to the regional conflict disrupted aviation across the region, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said on Thursday.
Speaking on a live broadcast Uraloğlu said nearly all of Syria’s airspace except Aleppo was closed, along with the airspace of Iraq, Iran and Israel. He added that Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain were also closed, while flights to the United Arab Emirates were continuing on a controlled basis. He said Turkish Airlines, AJet, Pegasus Airlines and SunExpress would not operate flights to closed airports until March 31.
The announcement marked a shift from an earlier round of suspensions disclosed on March 6, when Turkey said flights to Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan were halted through March 9 and services to several Gulf destinations were canceled on a shorter-term basis.
Air travel across the Middle East has faced repeated disruption since the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran began in late February, forcing airlines to cancel flights, reroute aircraft and avoid closed air corridors.