Civilnet
By Alexander Pracht
Turkish Airlines announced on Tuesday that it plans to launch scheduled flights to Yerevan, though no date or route details were provided. In its brief statement, the flag carrier said the move would depend on “availability and market conditions.”
The company did not clarify whether the flights would be operated from Istanbul or another Turkish city.
Flights between Armenia and Turkey have been ongoing consistently since the early 2000s. The carrier has never been Turkish Airlines but a smaller carrier. And the flights have been listed as charter flights not commercial flights that appear on any flight purchasing platforms.
If implemented, the decision would carry political significance, reflecting the broader trend of normalization between Armenia and Turkey. The two countries have never established diplomatic relations, though they formally recognize each other. In recent years, contacts have intensified, including two visits by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to Turkey and several trips by Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.
A joint working group was set up in 2021 to pursue normalization, and Turkey’s envoy visited Armenia in September for talks. Negotiations focus on establishing relations and reopening the land border, which Ankara unilaterally shuttered in 1993 in support of Azerbaijan’s blockade of Armenia during the Nagorno-Karabakh war. So far, discussions have centered only on allowing third-country nationals to cross the frontier.
Despite more than three years of dialogue, progress is widely seen as tied to Armenia’s relations with Azerbaijan, with Turkey reluctant to move forward until Yerevan and Baku take further confidence-building steps. Still, air connections exist: Turkish low-cost airline Pegasus already operates flights between Yerevan and Istanbul.
Turkish Airlines is the country’s largest airline and national flag carrier. Around 49% of its shares are owned by the Turkish government, with the rest publicly traded.
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