Minister of Public Works and Transportation Tolga Atakan said there were ongoing talks for Anadolu Jet, a sub company of Turkish Airlines, to have one of its planes based in Ercan Airport, which means the plane will start and end the day in the TRNC.
He said once this is realised, the flight frequency to destinations such as Ankara, Antalya, İzmir, Hatay and Adana could increase.
In his answer to the question on high airline ticket prices, during the press conference on Monday where all members of the cabinet were present, Atakan said all costs in the airline industry was in foreign currency, and the increase in the value of foreign currency to the Turkish lira was having a negative impact on ticket prices.
Atakan said transportation into the country was through a single active airway course, which did not meet the demand. He said they were working to increase the number of flights coming into the TRNC but the current airport was only able to serve a certain number of airplanes. Atakan said they were working on what could be done until the new airport is opened, and was in contact with the Turkish Ministry of Transportation, Maritime and Communication.
The minister reminded that due to the busy traffic in both Istanbul’s airports, it was impossible to increase the number of flights from there. He said they were working on university student transportation, to meet the demand once 2018-2019 fall semester starts. Atakan added that they were working on reserving Çorlu Airport in Turkey exclusively for student transportation which will cost cheaper for airlines.