Turkey to resume domestic flights in June

Turkey's national airline will resume flights to five local provinces in June, as coronavirus measures are relaxed.

Transport Minister Adil Karaismailoglu said on Saturday that domestic flights would resume "gradually" starting from June 1.

Turkish Airlines will start to operate domestic flights to İstanbul, Ankara, Antalya, İzmir and Trabzon starting on Tuesday – over a month after all domestic and international flights were halted late April. 

"As of June 1, we will be in the skies, where we belong," Turkish airlines spokesperson Yahya Ustun said in a Tweet on Saturday.

According to Turkish media reports, the travel ban on 15 of the hardest-hit cities, including Ankara and Istanbul, will also be lifted on Monday.

According to public information made available by the Turkish Embassy in the US, all those travelling on domestic flights and trains will require a personal code, issued by the coronavirus-tracking Hayat Eve Sigar application.

"Passengers who are not approved by the Ministry of Health to travel will not be permitted to travel," the embassy wrote.

Cafes, restaurants, parks, gyms and museums will reportedly be allowed to reopen in the coming week.

Read also: Turkish mosques reopen for mass prayers amid coronavirus restriction ease

Turkey has recorded some 162,000 coronavirus cases, resulting in 4,489 deaths since the start of the outbreak.