Turkish Airlines cancelled flights on 18 international routes beginning next month, a schedule change announced during this week’s update. The move affects destinations across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and the Caribbean, with the deepest reductions concentrated in May and June. The airline also said Turkish Airlines cancelled flights may continue in the region as airspace conditions are being monitored in real time.
What Turkish Airlines cancelled flights mean for the network
The suspended destinations include Juba, Kinshasa, Luanda, Lusaka, Aqaba, Billund, Bissau, Ferghana, Freetown, Havana, Hurghada, Kirkuk, Leipzig/Halle, Libreville, Monrovia, Najaf, Pointe Noire, and Turkistan. Turkish Airlines cancelled flights across these routes will remove more than 100 weekly departures per month from the schedule between May and October, or more than 200 weekly flights when return services are included. The largest cuts are set for May and June, when more than 140 weekly departures have been withdrawn.
Among the most significant changes is the cancellation of the planned restart of the Juba route in May 2026. Flights will now terminate in Asmara, while the previously planned service resumption for Aqaba from June 1, 2026, has also been cancelled for the NS26 period, with the Amman nonstop service unchanged.
Route-by-route changes now removed from the plan
Several other routes were also taken off the schedule. The Istanbul-Dakar-Bissau service, which had been planned twice weekly from June 8, 2026, has been cancelled and is tentatively rescheduled for March 28, 2027. The Istanbul-Dar es Salaam-Lusaka route will see its last Lusaka flight on May 10, 2026, while the Istanbul-Kinshasa-Luanda service ends with a last flight on May 3, 2026, and the return routing Luanda and Kinshasa ends on May 1, 2026. Turkish Airlines cancelled flights on the Istanbul-Ouagadougou-Freetown routing as well, with the last flight on June 6, 2026, after Ouagadougou service is reduced from eight to four weekly flights.
There is also a separate active alert on the airline’s website noting that some flights to and from Iran and the surrounding region have been cancelled. The airline said, “The current situation in the region’s airspace is being monitored in real-time, and additional flight cancellations may occur. ”
Immediate reaction and operational context
The airline’s update is the clearest sign yet that the network is being reshaped well beyond a single route. Turkish Airlines cancelled flights while also indicating that the Tehran schedule from June 1, 2026, is only tentative and remains subject to change.
The changes come during a broader schedule adjustment period stretching from May through October, with the most severe reductions clustered at the start of the period. In practical terms, passengers booked on affected routes may need to watch closely for rebookings, revised stopovers, or later timetable changes.
What happens next
For now, the airline is treating the cuts as part of an active schedule update rather than a one-time action. Turkish Airlines cancelled flights on multiple routes already removed from the plan, and the airline has left open the possibility of additional changes if regional airspace conditions shift again.
