Turkish volleyball team to return in business class: Minister

ISTANBUL

Following controversy over the Turkish National Women's Volleyball Team's 13-hour economy class flight to the United States, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdülkadir Uraloğlu has intervened and pledged that the team would travel business class on their return journey.

The controversy erupted after several star players, including Ebrar Karakurt, Zehra Güneş and Hande Baladın, shared their discomfort on social media. Karakurt posted a photo with the caption, "We have started our 13-hour journey to America in the economy section. Thank you THY. Continue to allocate private planes for other teams. Economy for us!"

Turkish Airlines (THY), the team's sponsor, initially placed the blame on the Turkish Volleyball Federation (TVF). THY Press Counselor Yahya Üstün stated that flight plans are made at the beginning of the year based on annual capacity, and federations are responsible for ticketing within those plans.

In a written statement, TVF emphasized that legislation restricts them from purchasing business class tickets and that they requested cabin upgrades on May 17. They added that their contract with THY is a barter agreement, and all flight tickets are used for federation activities.

THY Chairman Ahmet Bolat promised that he would personally follow the international flights of the athletes, instructing his staff to keep them informed of future matches and ensuring business class flights would be arranged if necessary.

Uraloğlu intervened to resolve the situation and stated that he met with Bolat and described the situation as “miscommunication.” The minister confirmed that the National Volleyball Team will fly business class on its return journey to the U.S.