ANKARA, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- New U.S. sanctions targeting Iran's aviation sector have disrupted air links between Türkiye and Iran, raising concerns about the impact on Türkiye's tourism industry, where Iranian visitors constitute an important source market.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions targeting Iran's aviation sector, suspending authorizations that allowed non-U.S. airlines to fly U.S.-origin or U.S.-controlled commercial aircraft into Iran. The department also sanctioned 27 Iranian airlines.
Amid the latest measures and continuing regional tensions, major Turkish carriers have suspended or removed Iran services from their booking systems, according to Turkish media reports.
Turkish Airlines and budget carrier AJet have removed all scheduled flights to Iranian destinations from their booking systems through March 2027, while Pegasus Airlines has also removed Iranian destinations from its reservation platform, according to Ekonomim, an online financial news outlet.
Türkiye has long been a popular destination for Iranian travelers, with air links supporting tourism, family visits and business exchanges. The country received 3.2 million Iranian visitors in 2024, making Iran one of its largest foreign visitor markets.
The disruption comes amid a difficult tourism outlook for Türkiye. The government recently lowered its 2026 tourism revenue projection to 65 billion U.S. dollars from an initial target of 68 billion amid heightened regional tensions.
Hamit Kuk, a board member of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies, stressed that transportation was fundamental to tourism.
"The sanctions have started. Tourism equals transportation. Where there is no transportation, tourism activity also weakens or comes to a standstill," Kuk said, adding that Türkiye had already lost much of the Iranian travel associated with the Nowruz holiday period in March and the summer season following the start of the U.S.-Israel-Iran war.
The loss of air services could be difficult to offset through alternative routes. Iranian travelers can still enter eastern Türkiye by road and then take domestic flights to other parts of the country, but Kuk said such arrangements were more expensive and complicated.
Kaan Sahinalp, an Ankara-based tourism expert and consultant, said the new sanctions represented another extension of regional tensions affecting tourism.
"This year, these sanctions are a new extension of the tensions in the Middle East amid geopolitical risks," Sahinalp told Xinhua.
"A significant portion of Iranian tourists coming to Türkiye arrive by air, so this will naturally lead to a decline in arrivals. There had already been a decrease in overland crossings after the war," he said.
Kuk warned that prolonged disruption could affect Türkiye's tourism performance beyond the current season.
"If these sanctions continue into 2027, they will also negatively affect the tourism sector, and we will not have a chance to reach the figures of previous years," he said. ■
