Turkish national flag carrier Turkish Airlines announced that it will be reinstating regularly scheduled passenger flights to several destinations in Saudi Arabia following the country’s decision to lift strict COVID-19 travel restrictions.
According to a statement issued by the airline on July 4, 2022, Turkish Airlines will resume flights from Turkey to four major cities in Saudi Arabia including Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, and Medina. The flight resumption follows the government of Saudia Arabia’s decision to remove Turkey from its ‘red’ list of countries.
“The flights to Saudi Arabia have resumed to pre-pandemic conditions and Saudi citizens can travel to or transit through Turkey again,” the statement said.
“With the resumption of Tourist, Turkish Airlines passengers with connecting flights in Istanbul Airport with 6-24 hours between their flights will have the option to discover İstanbul and its cultural and historical wonders,” Turkey’s largest airline noted.
The airline also announced that passengers would be able to fly to Turkey “without a PCR test or vaccination card and masks are not mandatory in the aircraft.”
Saudia Already Flies to Istanbul
Saudi Arabia lifted all COVID-19 air travel restrictions on June 4, 2022, a decision that allowed its citizens and travelers to fly to Turkey, India Ethiopia, and Vietnam, countries banned from the air travel network due to high COVID-19 infection rates, without further restriction.
Saudia, formerly known as Saudi Arabian Airlines, launched flights from Madinah to Istanbul Airport and Jeddah to Istanbul following a two-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Flight SV257 from Jeddah to Istanbul resumed service on May 7, 2022, with the first flight operated by A330-300 Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows.
The route was suspended in March 2020 when the pandemic spread around the world. It was reactivated in October 2020 as a cargo-only service but then suspended again at the end of August 2021.
Saudia said it would also fly to Istanbul from Madinah and Riyadh.
Flights from Jeddah and Medina are now scheduled to operate every day, while trips from Riyadh are to be held on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, according to Turkish media Hürriyet Daily News.
The carrier’s resumption of passenger flights to Turkey comes in the wake of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Saudi Arabia in late April 2022 in which he pledged then to “reactivate a great economic potential” of cooperation between the two countries, which have had a sour relationship since the Arab Spring in 2011 due to their conflicting political interests in the region.
LCC rival Flynas continues to serve Istanbul Sabiha Gökcen from Jeddah and Riyadh while Pegasus Airlines also operates from Sabiha Gökcen to Jeddah and Riyadh.
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