TEHRAN – The newly-reestablished Iran-Turkey flights operated by Turkish Airlines has been suspended once again due to coronavirus fears.

Last week, and following months of ups and downs, the flag carrier resumed its flights to Tehran after six months of halt under strict health protocols, Maqsoud As’adi-Samani, secretary of the Association of Iranian Airlines (AIA) announced on Saturday.

Outbound passengers were required to hold a health certificate with a negative coronavirus PCR test result, otherwise, the boarding pass won’t be issued for them, he noted.

For the time being the fate of the service is on the air, he said, adding: “The reason for these policies by the Turkish authorities is not clear and we do not know why they change their minds and decisions so quickly.”

The pandemic has taken a huge toll on Iran’s civil aviation sector with reports showing that airlines lost hundreds of millions of dollars because of flight cancellations during the busy New Year travel season in late March.

Some 1.37 million Iranian tourists visited Turkey during the first eight months of 2019, accounting for 4.4% of all international arrivals in the country.

AFM/MG