Turkish Airlines planning to fly to only 19 countries next month and gradually expand the flights to 99 countries by September according to the draft plan.
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.
Turkish Airlines used to fly to 126 countries before the pandemic virus outbreak, was forced to shut down all the flights, will fly just to 19 countries next month.
Looking to restart domestic and international flights after a suspension due to coronavirus, Turkish Airlines has drafted a flight plan for the next 3 months, Anadolu Agency reported.
Domestic flights will resume in June and international flights will resume 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.
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. The plan is to resume the flights on June where the cases are decreasing every day.
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 nearly 130,000 confirmed coronavirus cases.
Summary of the plans for the next four months
For June the flight plannings will be as: 19 countries, 22 points and 75 frequencies per week.
July plannings will be as: 74 countries, 103 points and 572 frequencies per week.
August plannings will be as: 98 countries, 160 points and 937 frequencies per week.
September plannings will be as: 99 countries, 166 points and 989 frequencies per week.
