Turkish Airlines halting all int’l flights except 5 routes

Turkish Airlines will ground all international flights except five routes from March 27 to April 17, the national flag carrier announced on March 22.

"As of March 27, we will suspend all our international flights except Hong Kong, Moscow, Addis Ababa, New York, and Washington, until April 17," the company's CEO Bilal Ekşi said on Twitter.

Cargo flights and domestic flights will continue, he added.

Earlier, Turkey expanded the flight suspensions to 68 countries to help stem spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry announced on March 21.

Turkish Airlines also suspended its services for passengers aged 65 or above as part of coronavirus measures of the country.

The flight ban includes the following countries: Angola, Austria, Azerbaijan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Czechia, China, Colombia,  Djibouti, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Georgia, Hungary, India, Italy, Iraq, Iran, Ireland, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Montenegro, Mongolia, Morocco, Moldova, Mauritania, Nepal, Niger, Norway, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Oman, the Philippines, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Taiwan, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, United Arab Emirates, the U.K, Ukraine.

COVID-19,