Turkey on Thursday resumed international flights to several countries, including Germany, Britain and the Netherlands, after planes were grounded two months ago to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, Daily Sabah reports.
A Turkish Airlines (THY) aircraft operated the first scheduled flight as it left Istanbul Airport for Dusseldorf at 8:20 a.m. It was followed by flights to London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Berlin and Munich.
THY subsidiary Anadolu Jet’s plane left Istanbul’s other airport, Sabiha Gökçen, for London at 8:40 a.m., carrying passengers with approved documents.
Passenger entry into the terminals was strictly regulated, with officials checking temperatures at the entrance and only allowing passengers with valid tickets to step inside.
Social distancing rules were also followed both by passengers and airport personnel.
Domestic flights in Turkey had resumed on June 1 as part of the government's "new normal" rules.
A spokesman for the flag carrier said the outbound flights could only carry passengers with EU citizenship, residence permits, or certain visas.
"Istanbul-London and Istanbul-Dusseldorf flights took off this morning carrying EU citizens or residence permit holders," a spokesman said.
