Return By Turkish Airlines/Turkish Cargo To DAM/ALP In Syria Reinforces Safety/Stability. Erdogan Expected In Damascus- “Airborne Embassy” And “Airborne Chamber Of Commerce” Likely To Follow
Return By Turkish Airlines And Turkish Cargo To DAM And ALP In Syria Reinforces Safety And Stability- That Helps Turkiye And Other Countries Help Syria.
President Erdogan Expected To Visit Damascus. That Means “Airborne Embassy” And “Airborne Chamber Of Commerce” Likely To Follow Him.
During the tenure of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of the Republic of Turkiye (2014- ), Turkish Airlines (Türk Hava Yolları Anonim Ortaklığı) has become an Airborne Embassy and Turkish Cargo has become an Airborne Chamber of Commerce.
Wherever delivering passengers and cargo, the companies are a bellwether for opportunity, safety, and stability. Where they go, others follow.
Turkish Airlines has 492 aircraft serving more than 300 destinations in 131 countries. İstanbul Istanbul Ataturk Havalimanı (IST) continues to rank amongst the busiest airports in the world. The government of Turkiye has a 49.13% shareholding in Turkish Airlines- with operational control.
There is no country more impacted since 2011 by the civil war in Syria while having today the most opportunity for impacting post-al Assad Administration in Syria than does Turkiye, the 18th largest economy in the world.
Regularly-scheduled flights from Turkiye to Syria will provide optical encouragement for approximately 4 million citizens of Syria residing within Turkiye to feel confident about returning to their homes and workplaces in Syria. Turkish Airlines and Turkish Cargo operations within Syria will also have a positive impact upon approximately 1.5 million citizens of Syria residing in Lebanon who will too feel more confident. For citizens of Syria residing in other countries, the diaspora, regularly-scheduled passenger services from the global hub IST to destinations in Syria will provide another component making easier re-engagement with their homeland.
While much needs to be done in Syria to reconstitute commercial, economic, financial, military, political, and society infrastructure throughout the country, Syria has a population of approximately twenty-three million who require homes, services, and workplaces where both an immediately-operational and continually efficient travel-related infrastructure is critical. Thirteen years since Turkish Airlines and Turkish Cargo operated in Syria.
Turkish Airlines is reportedly configuring the ticket sale process for IST to Aleppo International Airport (ALP) and from IST to Damascus International Airport (DAM). Flight costs, dates, and times are not yet published. Expect Turkish Airlines to follow with services from Ankara Esenboga Airport (ESB) and Kayseri Airport (ASR) to destinations in Syria. Turkish Cargo will eventually operate from IST to ALP and IST.
Ukraine And Russia
Prior to 24 February 2022, Turkish Airlines and Turkish Cargo provided multiple flights per day from IST to Boryspil International Airport (KBP) in Kyiv, Ukraine, and into Igor Sikorsky Kyiv International Airport- Kiev Zhuliany International Airport (IEV) in Kyiv, Ukraine. Since 24 February 2022, the government of Ukraine has closed its airspace to commercial aviation and general aviation.
Neither Turkish Airlines nor Turkish Cargo have since 24 February 2022 sought publicly to resume operations to any airport in Ukraine, including KBP, IEV or those furthest to the west and from active war zones, for example Lviv Danylo Halytskyi International Airport (LWO) which is near the border with the Republic of Poland.
On 7 November 2024, Mr. Crispin Ellison, Senior Partner of New York, New York-based Marsh McLennan, predicted that either KPB or LWO would again be operational by the end of January 2025 with five or six airlines operational likely using Airbus-320 aircraft and Boeing-737 aircraft, both of which are within the Turkish Airlines inventory.
Turkish Airlines maintains a critical transportation lifeline for citizens (and government officials) of the Russian Federation to connect through IST with other countries. Turkish Airlines operating sometimes five flights per day to Vnukovo International Airport (VKO) in Moscow are the most efficient means for official and unofficial conduits to engage directly with the representatives of the government of the Russian Federation and executives of the private sector in the Russian Federation.
On 22 December 2022, President Erdogan used his relationships with Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation (2000-2008 and 2012- ), and Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine (2019- ), to obtain the return of two Turkish Air Force Airbus A400M military transport aircraft that were stranded at KBP on 24 February 2022.
