Flights to and from Turkey tumble after lockdown starts

London (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - Flights to and from Turkey have tumbled this week in the wake of the 17-day strict lockdown started on April 29 to curb the spread of Covid-19 infections, data from Eurocontrol, the aviation safety agency, shows.

After reaching 1,549 flights on April 29, Turkish commercial flights dropped sharply to just 804 flights on May 4, its lowest number this year.

The seven-day moving average of flight numbers has dropped to 61.9% lower than the same week in 2019, down from 57.1% lower on April 29.

The announcement of the snap restrictions came soon after Russia, which accounted for seven million tourists in 2019, banned flights to Turkey because of a surge in infections in recent weeks.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan imposed a lockdown until mid-May, in part so that European countries did not leave Turkey behind as they re-open beaches, restaurants and travel.

A tourism minister told Reuters the government hoped that 30 million foreigners could arrive this year, twice as many as last, if the lockdown succeeds in lowering daily Covid-19 cases to below 5,000 from near 30,000 in recent days.

Infections topped 60,000 last month.

After reaching 1,549 flights on April 29, Turkish commercial flight dropped sharply to just 804 flights on May 4, its lowest number this year.

The seven-day moving average of flight numbers has dropped to 61.9% lower than the same week in 2019, down from 57.1% lower on April 29.

Turkey's lockdowns could stall the recovery of the European aviation market.