Air travel between Istanbul and Dubai looks set to resume for the first time since the pandemic shut airports earlier this year.
Emirates plans to resume flights from Dubai to Istanbul this month.
The Dubai airline will fly daily to the Turkish city via a Boeing 777-300 from Monday, December 21, “subject to government approval”, a release stated.
Flights are scheduled to depart Dubai at 2.20pm, landing in Istanbul at 4.20pm. Return flights will leave Istanbul just after 8pm and touch down in Dubai at 1.20am the following day. One-way fares to Istanbul with Emirates in Economy class start from Dh1,400.
Emirates is slowly rebuilding its network of destinations and the addition of daily flights to Istanbul will mean the Dubai airline is now operating to 31 locations across Europe, and 99 total destinations across the world.
Flydubai is restarting flights to Istanbul from the UAE this month, a spokesperson said.
The low-cost airline said that flights “from Dubai International (DXB) to Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (SAW) are available to book on flydubai.com and a daily service will operate from December 17.”
Flights will depart Dubai just before 7pm and land in Turkey at 10.45pm. The lowest one-way fares available to book on the flydubai website start at Dh1,050.
Turkey has reopened its borders for tourism and passengers of all nationalities who meet Turkish immigration rules can travel to the country.
Emirates advises travellers that they must wear a face mask at all times while in an airport, and for the duration of all flights to and from Turkey.
Travellers arriving in Istanbul will undergo a medical evaluation for symptoms of coronavirus, including temperature checks. Any passengers showing symptoms will be required to undergo a PCR test at the airport.
A passenger locator form must also be completed before travelling to Turkey and airlines will provide travellers with more information on this.
Bloomberg reports that Turkish Airlines is also planning to resume flights to Dubai from Istanbul now that the travel corridor has reopened.
As part of a winter tourism campaign, Emirates and Dubai Tourism are giving tourists visiting Dubai a complimentary hotel stay. This applies to visitors flying to Dubai from today until February 28, 2021.
Economy class passengers will receive one free night’s stay at the JW Marriott Hotel. First or Business class travellers will be given a two-night complimentary stay at the hotel, which is located near popular tourist attractions including The Dubai Mall, Burj Khalifa and Dubai Opera.
