Turkish Airlines, its subsidiary AJet and Pegasus, a major low-cost carrier, suspended all flights to Iran as of yesterday following an expansion of US sanctions targeting Iran’s civil aviation sector.
Turkish Airlines and AJet currently show no flights to Iran in their booking systems through Mar 2027. Pegasus has also removed Iran services from its reservation system, with no Iranian cities appearing in flight searches.
The suspensions followed a Sep 8 decision by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to indefinitely suspend General License J-1.
The license had allowed foreign airlines to temporarily bring US-made aircraft, or aircraft containing significant amounts of US-origin parts and technology, into Iran. It enabled carriers to operate Airbus and Boeing aircraft on Iranian routes.
Its suspension exposed airlines whose fleets consist entirely of such aircraft to potential US sanctions.
The US also added 27 Iranian airlines to its sanctions list on Sep 8 and warned that foreign companies providing services to Iran’s aviation sector could face sanctions.
The US Treasury Department alleges that Iran’s aviation sector is used to transport weapons and personnel, citing those claims as the basis for the sanctions. (HA/VK)
