Demand for private jets picks up amid outbreak

ISTANBUL

Demand for private jets has been on the rise amid the coronavirus outbreak as people, who are stranded in foreign countries, struggle to return to Turkey.

A flight on a private jet from the U.S to Turkey costs around $150,000 while passengers need to pay around 17,000 euros for the trip from London, said Zafer Yeşilgül, the owner of a company, which provides private jet services.

The cost of a flight from Iraq to Turkey varies between $35,000 and $50,000.

Businesspeople, even students lease those jets to return to the country, Yeşilgül told Milliyet newspaper.

“Many people are calling our company to arrange a flight on private jets. There are occasions that up to five to six students jointly lease the jets”, he added.

A businessman recently traveled from Budapest, two students arrived in Turkey on a private jet, he recalled.

Yeşilyurt explained how the procedure works for private jets: The company applies to the authorities together with passengers’ information.

“After permissions are acquired, a flight date is set up. Then our jets land at the airports which are designated by the authorities. We cannot fly our airplanes without proper authorization. As soon as the passengers arrive, officials from the Health Ministry put them under quarantine for 14 days,” Yeşilyurt said.

He dubbed those flights “private evacuation” and said that foreign countries have been very cooperative.

Yeşilyurt, however, did not say how many people his company has brought from other countries to Turkey in the wake of the pandemic.

The Turkish government has launched a massive operation in coordination with Turkish Airlines to bring Turkish nationals from other countries.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu informed on April 25 that more than 60,000 Turkish citizens have been brought back home from around the world during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Çavuşoğlu also said that around 20,000 foreigners in Turkey were also returned to their own countries.