Big Cancellation: Turkish Airlines Cancels All International Flights Until May 20

While all airlines are canceled flights all over the world, Turkish Airlines had held out longer than most. But, once they canceled their flights, they were doing it in small increments. This latest cancellation represents the biggest cancellation range they have made so far and it now will give thousands of passengers a chance at a refund.

Turkish Airlines Cancels All International Until May 20

The last cancellation wave covered all flights until May 1. Today, Turkish Airlines really moved the post on cancellations by stretching them over one month out – with all international flights canceled until May 20.

Here is the statement from them:

Suspended flights due to coronavirus

Last update: April 14, 2020

Dear passengers,

In accordance with the decisions taken by the authorities of the Republic of Turkey and to protect the public health from novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic,

• All our international flights are suspended until May 20, 2020.
• Starting from April 03, 2020, 23:59 (UTC +3), all our domestic flights are suspended until April 20, 2020

What If You Had Flights with Turkish Airlines?

If you were scheduled to fly with Turkish Airlines sometime between May 1 and May 20, you now have all the options available to you before (like free changes and open tickets) plus you can now request a refund. Do note that they are saying it should take 60 days from when they restart operation – currently, that means that you would receive the refund no sooner than July 19.

This could be a bit like businesses saying that you need to wait one or two billing statements for a return to show up – and it is there less than a week later. Still, it is important to know that if you opt for the refund.

If you plan on flying Turkish Airlines again to any city in the same region your original ticket was for, it could be better to convert your ticket to an Open Ticket as that lets you rebook at no cost to you whatsoever to any city in that region (that Turkish flies to) – that means no change fee and no increase in ticket cost.

Unfortunately, they are not offering the voucher with the extra 15% of value added anymore. To see a good breakdown on your options and how to take advantage of them, read this post.