Turkmenistan Airlines has announced the restart of some of its flights to the European Union.
The flag-carrier of Turkmenistan had been banned from EU airspace since early February 2019 over “pending confirmation that [Turkmenisten Airlines] meets international air safety standards”.
According to the published schedule, Turkmenistan Airlines will restart flights from its hub in Ashgabat to Frankfurt, Germany and Birmingham, England on June 1st. A restart of London and Paris, two destinations which Turkmenistan served before the ban, has not yet been announced.
Prior to the restrictions, Turkmenistan Airlines’ route to Frankfurt was served once a week and Birmingham twice a week. One-time charter flights by Spanish carrier Wamos Air were operated on February 10th and 12th between Ashgabat and Birmingham, in order to pick up travellers left stranded by the ban. The route to Paris Charles de Gaulle has not been operated since November last year.
It is currently unclear if the European Union’s Aviation Safety Agency has lifted its restrictions against the airline. The Agency has not posted any publication to formally recognise Turkmenistan’s resumption of flights to the EU.
Apart from these connections, Turkmenistan operates flights to Istanbul, Minsk, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kazan in continental Europe. The airline’s active passenger fleet consists of nine Boeing 737 (two -700 and seven -800), three 757-200 and two 777-200LR.
Jakob Wert is an aviation journalist from Germany. He built up the website IFN.news and is the Editor-In-Chief of International Flight Network.
