Turkey has extended flight cancellations to several Middle Eastern destinations as airspace disruptions continue amid the Iran war, with the country’s transport minister saying Turkish carriers have suspended service to Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan through March 9.
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced the move on Friday in a statement on X.
İran ile ABD-İsrail arasındaki savaştan etkilenen hava sahalarıyla ilgili gelişmeleri yakından takip ediyoruz.
İran, İsrail, Irak, Katar, Bahreyn, Kuveyt ve Suriye’de (Halep hariç) hava sahası kapalılıkları devam etmektedir. Umman, Ürdün ve Suudi Arabistan da ise kısmi uçuşlar…
— Abdulkadir URALOĞLU (@a_uraloglu) March 6, 2026
Uraloğlu said Turkish Airlines, AJet, Pegasus and SunExpress were all affected by the latest suspension. He added that Pegasus had removed its Iran flights from the schedule through March 12, while Turkish Airlines had done so through March 20.
The decision marked a new extension after Ankara had earlier announced that flights to the same five countries would remain suspended through March 6 because of security risks linked to the regional conflict. In that earlier statement, Uraloğlu also said flights to Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates had been canceled through March 3.
In Friday’s update the minister said airspace closures were still in effect over Iran, Israel, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Syria, except for Aleppo. He said partial flights were continuing in Oman, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, while air traffic in the United Arab Emirates was controlled and limited.
Uraloğlu also said flights to Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates would not operate on March 6 as part of what he described as daily assessments based on developments in regional airspace. He said Turkish authorities were closely monitoring changes at airports and in flight corridors across the region.
The minister said seven Iraqi Airways planes were being kept overnight at Turkish airports, with four at İstanbul Airport, two at Muğla Dalaman Airport and one at Ankara Esenboğa Airport. He said Turkish officials were coordinating with relevant institutions to track the situation.
He also said one Turkish Airlines plane and one Pegasus plane were at Tehran Airport as of Friday, while a leased Tailwind Airlines aircraft was in Iraq. In a separate development, Uraloğlu said two Azerbaijan Airlines passenger planes were diverted to Iğdır Şehit Bülent Aydın Airport after a drone fell near Nakhchivan International Airport, and that passengers were safely transported by road to Nakhchivan.
Turkey has been adjusting civil aviation operations since the outbreak of the latest regional fighting, with officials issuing rolling cancellations and route changes as risks shift across Middle Eastern airspace. Ankara has said the measures are based on security assessments and could change depending on conditions on the ground and in the air.