On July 9, Turkish aviation authorities banned a Boeing 777F cargo plane of Ethiopian Airlines from flying through its airspace en route to Armenia, reports Armenian publication Hetq.
The publication states that the plane had departed from Liège, Belgium, and, after flying through the airspace of several European countries, was supposed to enter Turkish airspace from Bulgaria. However, without receiving permission from the Turkish side, the plane made an intermediate landing in Vienna and returned to Liège.
The Civil Aviation Committee reported that the Ethiopian cargo carrier had all the necessary permits, but Ankara banned the flight at the last moment. Hayways Cargo Director Ovsanna Stepanyan explained that the plane’s cargo consisted of consumer goods ordered by customers from Armenia and Georgia. After being delivered to Yerevan, part of the cargo was to be sent to Tbilisi by Hayways.
As the article notes, Turkey effectively banned the transportation of goods destined for Armenia and Georgia through its airspace, with the goods being rerouted through Russia.
The publication highlights that Turkey has repeatedly banned flights of planes with Armenian registration or those leased by Armenian airlines. Specifically, in September 2020, and from July 2020 to March 2022, Turkish airspace was closed to transit flights of the Armenian government’s aircraft.
In 2022-23, Ankara also banned the overflight of planes with foreign registration leased by Armenian airlines.