Turkish Airlines will resume Istanbul-Mashhad flights as of Jan. 24 after an 11-month hiatus due to the new coronavirus pandemic, says Hassan Jafari, director general of Mashhad Hasheminejad International Airport’s Public Relations Department.
“Biweekly Istanbul-Mashhad flights will be conducted on Sundays and Thursdays,” he was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Before the Covid-19 crisis, the Mashhad airport operated flights to 14 foreign destinations, which has now declined to six.
Under normal conditions, the airport would provide service to an average of 180 flights and 40,000 airline passengers per day.
Iranians with residential permits or those traveling as tourists were recently permoitted to travel to Turkey under certain conditions, IranAir, the country’s flag carrier airline, has announced.
All passengers above the age of 2 need to carry their negative coronavirus test (PRC) results. The test should have been carried out within 72 hours before the flight and must be translated, Mehr News Agency reported.
No carry-on luggage on wheels is allowed on board the flight. Passengers may only have backpacks or handbags with them.
Turkish officials have also announced that using facemasks on board the plane and in airports is mandatory.
After months-long suspensions due to the outbreak of coronavirus, IranAir resumed its weekly flights to Turkey’s Ankara on Dec. 23.
As scheduled, the flight will depart from Imam Khomeini International Airport at 09:45 a.m. and the return flight will leave Ankara Esenboga Airport on the same day at 01:55 p.m. local time, IRNA quoted Hossein Jahani, the director general of IranAir’s Public Relations Department, as saying.
The national flag carrier is also operating two weekly flights between Tehran and Istanbul.
Flights between the two neighboring country were called off as of Oct. 4, the Turkish civil aviation authority announced.
As per IranAir's announcement, Turkish aviation authorities issued permission for the flag carrier to operate limited flights between the two countries following a series of talks held between the two countries' officials.
