Turkey closes airspace to Armenian airline without warning

Turkey closed its airspace on Saturday to Armenian airline FlyOne Armenia without warning, Armenpress news agency cited the carrier's chairman as saying.

"For reasons incomprehensible to us and without any visible grounds, Turkish aviation authorities cancelled the permission previously granted to the FlyOne Armenia airline to operate flights to Europe through Turkish airspace," chairman Aram Ananyan said.

"Turkish aviation authorities implemented the cancellation without prior notification, putting our airline and our passengers in an uncomfortable situation."

FlyOne Armenia, a subsidiary of Moldovan airline FlyOne, began operations in December 2021. In February 2023, Ananyan told Armenpress that the carrier had five Airbus aircraft and offered flights to 14 destinations in eight European and Middle Eastern nations.

The move by Turkey to close its airspace came a day before the peace talks in Washington between Armenian and Azerbaijani delegations.

Ankara has not had diplomatic or commercial ties with Armenia since the 1990s.

In February, a border gate between the neighbors was opened for the first time in 35 years to allow aid for victims of the devastating earthquakes in southern Turkey.