Turkish Airlines finalizes long-awaited direct flight launch

A Turkish Airline delegation headed by the company’s deputy general manager, Enes Saim, is visiting Juba for final preparations for the launch of direct flights from Juba to Istanbul and vice versa.

The airline, which is due to begin its flight from Juba to Istanbul on June 1, 2022, aims to enhance the existing bilateral relations between the two countries while also creating job opportunities for the South Sudanese.

“We are here to inform the public that Turkish Airlines’ direct flights from Juba to Istanbul on June 1 [are on course] and we are going to have three flights per week,” Mr Saim said.

“We believe our direct flight will be a bridge between the two countries to cement their historical bilateral relations,” he said. 

On his part, the Turkish Ambassador to South Sudan, Erdem Mutaf, commended the government of South Sudan for granting the company opportunities to operate in the country, outlining the importance of the airline’s operation between South Sudan and Turkey.

“Turkish Airlines’ operations will assist Turkey to help more in many fields because this agreement (R-ARCSS) is the framework to [stimulate growth in] areas of agriculture, fisheries and livestock, health, economic cooperation, and financial cooperation to improve our bilateral relations. The Turkish Airlines’ operation is also very important in this respect,” Amb Mutaf said.

This is the second visit of the delegation to Juba. Last month, when they visited Juba, they held talks with Vice President for Economic Cluster, Dr James Wani Igga, who welcomed the plan for the launch of Turkish Airlines’ operation in Juba to ease movements of people and goods between the two countries.  

According to Dr Igga, the airline will diversify South Sudan’s economy by attracting international investors and creating job opportunities for thousands of the country’s youth.

“The government will continue partnering with Turkish Airlines in South Sudan to achieve development goals, and such projects would boost the economies of the two countries in the field of airlines,” said Dr Igga.

Currently, Turkish Airlines operates in 128 countries and 334 destinations all over the world, with 114 destinations in Europe, 17 destinations in America, and 37 destinations in the far East and Asia. The company has 371 passenger and cargo flights.

Since the return of peace in 2018, South Sudan has been slowly gaining back business by luring investors to jumpstart the economy in the country.

Turkish Airlines will become one of the eight international airlines that have direct flights to South Sudan. Currently, the country has  Sudan Airlines, Uganda Airlines, Kenya Airlines, Ethiopia Airlines, Egypt Airlines, Rwanda Airlines, and Flydubai airlines operating in Juba.