Turkish Airlines has said passenger bookings between Turkey and the US have sharply decreased following the suspension of visa applications among the two countries for travel from Oct. 16, 2017 to March 31, 2018.

On Oct. 8, the US and Turkey each suspended all non-immigrant visa services for travel between the two countries following the arrest of a US consulate employee in Istanbul on allegations of terrorism.

CEO Bilal Eksi told ATW that Turkey-US bookings have fallen 45% and US-Turkey bookings have dropped 62% compared to the same period last year.

However, Eksi explained, “Contrary to the decline in local traffic, the number of transit passengers for the same period has increased by 111%, which not only compensates the loss of the local traffic but also increases our total traffic for the same period.”

ATW understands the problem with transfer-business is that it creates lower yields compared to direct local traffic for the Turkish flag carrier.

According to Eksi, the Star Alliance member serves nine US destinations with a total of 63 weekly flights during the winter schedule and 75 weekly flights in the summer season, respectively.

Kurt Hofmann, hofmann.aviation@netway.at