The United States has lifted a ban on flights to and from Turkey
following a failed coup in the country, the U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) said on July 18.
The ban, which included
both direct flights and those from a third country, went into effect
after a faction of Turkey’s military attempted to overthrow the Turkish
government. The coup crumbled on July 15 as supporters of President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan took to the streets in defiance of the coup plotters.
The
attempted coup forced airlines to cancel flights. Shares of Turkish
Airlines had tumbled 12.6 percent on Monday, logging their biggest
one-day drop since 2013.
The FAA said in a statement that it
lifted the restrictions at 1:45 p.m. EDT (1745 GMT). CNN Turk had
previously reported the news.
In a statement, Turkish Airlines said its flights to the United States would resume on July 19 morning.
The
attempted coup followed a series of bombings that have hit Turkey this
year, including a suicide attack in June that killed 45 people at
Istanbul’s main airport. They have weighed on international travel to
the country.
As of July 2, international flight bookings to
Istanbul for trips in the second half of the year were down 36 percent
from a year ago, travel data analysis company ForwardKeys said.
