EU Suspends Turkmenistan Airlines Flights Over Safety Concerns

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has suspended flights to European Union countries by planes belonging to Turkmenistan Airlines, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office reported on its website on 4 February.

The report says that the EASA is waiting for confirmation that Turkmenistan Airlines flights meet international air safety standards.

“This means that Turkmenistan Airlines flights between the UK (London Heathrow and Birmingham) and Turkmenistan (Ashgabat), do not have permission to travel to and from the UK,” the report says.

According to the live flight tracker on the website Flightradar24, the Turkmenistan Airlines flight to Birmingham scheduled for 4 February has been cancelled. All subsequent flights to date are being carried out by a Spanish charter carrier Wamos Air.

On February 7 the U.S. Embassy in Turkmenistan banned its employees from flying Turkmenistan Airlines on official travel (both international and domestic) until the suspension is lifted.

Turkmenistan Airlines operated flights to Paris, Frankfurt, London and Birmingham. The airline provided competitively priced flights via Ashgabat to Delhi, Amritsar, Bangkok and Beijing. Earlier, in December 2018, there were media reports that Turkmenistan Airlines’ flights to Paris had been cancelled over unpaid fees to Charles de Gaulle Airport.