Iran’s flag carrier airline, Iran Air, has announced it is restoring flights to Istanbul after a seven-month halt that was caused by the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in Iran and other parts of the region.
Iran Air said in a statement that flights to Istanbul would resume as of September 25 with Flight 719 from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport to Istanbul.
The airline said passengers should have had a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test 72 hours before arrival in Istanbul airport confirming they are free of coronavirus.
According to the announcement, Iran Air's certificate to fly to Istanbul had been issued “based on negotiations between the two countries of Iran and Turkey.”
Istanbul was one of Homa’s main destinations before the pandemic hit global air travel in late February. The airline has managed to restore flights to key destinations in Europe now that restrictions meant to curb the virus have eased.
Flights to Istanbul had resumed in early July before Turkish authorities re-imposed fresh bans on travel from several countries in the Middle East, including from Iran, over concerns about a second wave of coronavoirus outbreak.
The pandemic has had a deep impact on Iran’s aviation industry amid sanctions imposed by the United States and allies that ban certain Iranian airlines from travel to and above major countries.
Domestic air travel has also been impacted with authorities saying last week that some companies had lost about 90 percent of demand for flights to main destinations.