Turkish Airlines plans to resume limited number of flights in June

Turkish Airlines plans a gradual resumption of flights from June and will take four months to return to near full operation, a draft plan seen by Reuters news agency showed, as the economy reopens following a slowdown in coronavirus cases.

The flag carrier, which flew to 126 countries before the coronavirus outbreak, was forced to shut down all international passenger flights, will fly to just 19 countries next month, the April-dated plan proposed.

Looking to restart domestic and international flights after a suspension due to coronavirus, Turkish Airlines has drafted a flight plan for June, July, and August, Anadolu Agency reported.

Domestic flights will resume in June and reintroduce international flights gradually, the news agency said.

Three-month flight plan

According to the three-month flight plan, starting in June, Turkish Airlines will fly to 22 destinations in 19 countries, including Canada, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Japan, China, South Korea, Singapore, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Norway, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Belarus, Israel, Kuwait, Georgia and Lebanon, with a weekly frequency of 75 flights.

The airline is projected to operate 60 percent of domestic flights to all destinations, then to add destinations in July and August. 

The number of destinations and flight frequency on international routes will rise to 103 and 572, respectively, in July, and to 160 and 937 in August.

It plans to gradually build up the number of destinations to 99 countries in September, according to the plan, which the company told Reuters may be subject to change in line with developments.

Reviving economy 

Turkish Airlines, which carried more than 74 million passengers last year, has suspended passenger flights until May 28 after borders were shut down to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Ankara has launched efforts to gradually revive the economy from late May after the spread of the virus slowed over the past two weeks. 

Turkey has about 130,000 confirmed coronavirus cases.