Aviation

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar reiterated on Wednesday that Ankara would continue its energy program in the Aegean, the Eastern Mediterranean and Cyprus. 

He said, in comments cited by Greek media, that Turkey wants good-neighborly relations with Greece but noted that "a compromise on our rights and interests is out of the question."

The European Union should prolong until mid-May curbs on travelling to the continent, the bloc's executive arm said on Wednesday of extraordinary measures meant to limit the spread of coronavirus.

There is a 53% decline in the passengers at Sofia Airport and the reason is the spread of the COVID-19 virus, which led to the cancellation of a large part of the flights.

In March last year, the passengers who passed through Sofia Airport were about 572,000. However, in March 2020 they are almost 270 000.

After operations were transferred from Ataturk Airport to the new Istanbul Airport, the new mega-airport served 64 million passengers in a nearly one-year period, from April 2019 to the end of this March, according to the airport operator. 

A new runaway at Istanbul Airport will be put into use on June 18, said the CEO of the company operating the mega air travel hub on April 6.

Turkish Cargo, a division of Turkey's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, has planned 155 flights per week for cargo freighters and 60 flights per week for passenger aircraft that are being used for cargo operations, departing from Istanbul in April.

Turkish Airlines on April 3 announced that due to the continuing coronavirus outbreak, it will suspend all domestic service until April 20.

On the heels of earlier flight suspensions due to the virus, the national flag carrier's "limited number of flights to and from 14 major cities will all be canceled until April 20," announced Bilal Eksi, Turkish Airlines' CEO.

The global airline industry is facing its worst crisis ever, with the impact already obvious at Athens International Airport, which recorded a 61.3 percent year-on-year decline in passenger traffic last month.
It only served 640,000 passengers, almost a million fewer than in March 2019, with the situation worsening in the latter half of the month.

Two Turkish F-16 fighter jets entered Athens' Flight Information Region (FIR) without submitting a flight plan at 2.19 p.m. Thursday and flew over Oinousses, in the eastern Aegean, at 26,000 feet.

Two minutes later, the two jets flew over Panagia islet at 21,000 feet.

The Turkish aircraft were intercepted by Greek jets in line with international rules of engagement.

Turkish Airlines has extended its suspension of all international flights to May 1 as part of measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, the national flag carrier announced late on April 1. 

Domestic flights have been limited to 14 metropolitan cities while all other domestic flights have been halted, Chief Executive Officer Bilal Ekşi said on Twitter.