Traveling During Covid-19

Within the scope of the measures taken against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the following decisions regarding entry to the country have been taken by the authorities of the Republic of Turkey, to be effective from November 27, 2021:

1) Flights from South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe are suspended until further notice. Passengers who have been to these countries in the past 14 days and planning to enter Turkey from another country are allowed to board the flight if they can submit a PCR test with a negative result taken within a maximum of 72 hours before arrival in Turkey. These passengers shall be taken under quarantine for 14 days in places to be determined by the governorships. If the result of the PCR test to be taken at the end of the 10th day of the quarantine is negative, the quarantine measure shall be ended. Passengers who do not have a PCR test on the 10th day of the quarantine shall stay in quarantine for 14 days and if the PCR test to be taken at the end of the 14th day of the test is positive, the current pandemic guide published by the General Directorate of Public Health of the Ministry of Health will be followed. Accommodation and transfer costs shall be covered by the passengers. Passengers to enter the quarantine are required to pay the accommodation fee of the hotel before their travels. In the case that our passengers fail to submit the document proving that they have made the payment of accommodation to our authorities at their first departure point, they shall not be admitted to board our flights as stipulated by the rules of the relevant authority.

2) Passengers departing from Brazil, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan are required to submit a PCR test with a negative result taken within a maximum of 72 hours before arrival in Turkey. Passengers on direct flights from Brazil, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan and passengers who have been to these countries in the past 14 days shall be exempt from quarantine if they can document that they have been administered a minimum of two doses of any of the vaccines approved by WHO and the Ministry of Health of the Turkish Republic (single dose for Johnson and Johnson) and minimum 14 days have passed since the last dose. If passengers fail to submit proof, such passengers shall be taken under quarantine at their residency address or at an address they state. If the result of the PCR test to be taken at the end of the 10th day of the quarantine is negative, the quarantine measure shall be ended. Passengers who do not have a PCR test on the 10th day of the quarantine shall stay in quarantine for 14 days and if the PCR test to be taken at the end of the 14th day of the test is positive, the current pandemic guide published by the General Directorate of Public Health of the Ministry of Health will be followed.

3) Passengers over 12 years of age and younger than 18 years of age, traveling with their parents and arriving from the countries above listed in article 2, are allowed to board the flight if they can submit a PCR test with a negative result taken within maximum 72 hours before arrival in Turkey if they cannot submit a document stating that they have been administered minimum two doses of any of the vaccines approved by WHO and the Ministry of Health of the Turkish Republic (single dose for Johnson and Johnson) and minimum 14 days have passed from the last dose. These passengers shall undergo a PCR test at their residency address and if the result is negative, they will be exempt from quarantine.

4A) Passengers arriving from Afghanistan or who have been to Afghanistan in the past 14 days shall be required to submit a PCR test with a negative result taken within a maximum of 72 hours before entry to Turkey. These passengers shall be taken under quarantine for 10 days in places to be determined by the governorships. Accommodation and transfer costs shall be covered by the passengers. If the result of the PCR test to be taken at the end of the 7th day of the quarantine is negative, the quarantine measure shall be ended.

4B) For travel by air, citizens of Afghanistan who have a residence or work permit in Turkey shall be admitted to board the flight on condition that they submit valid permits of residence or work in Turkey. These people shall be exempt from hotel quarantine, and they may spend their quarantine periods at their address of residence. These passengers whose point of first entry to Turkey are cities other than İstanbul or Ankara shall be allowed to go to their addresses of residence only by private vehicles, and it shall not be allowed for them to board domestic flights or use public transportation.

4C) Citizens of the Republic of Turkey arriving from Afghanistan shall be exempt from hotel quarantine, and they will be able to spend their quarantine periods at their address of residence. These passengers whose first point of entry to the country are cities other than İstanbul or Ankara shall be allowed to go to their addresses of residence only by private vehicles, and they are not permitted to board domestic flights or use public transportation.

5) Within the scope of Article 4A, our passengers to be taken under quarantine are required to have their hotel bookings done through the contact information given in the link below before their travels and they are required to pay the accommodation fee of the hotel before their travels. In the case that our passengers fail to submit the document proving that they have made the payment of accommodation to our authorities at their first departure point, they shall not be admitted to board our flights as stipulated by the rules of the relevant authority.

6) Passengers traveling from Iran and Egypt are required to submit a PCR test with a negative result taken within a maximum of 72 hours before entry or a vaccination card showing that they have been administered a minimum of two doses of any of the vaccines approved by WHO and the Ministry of Health of the Turkish Republic (single dose for Johnson and Johnson) and minimum 14 days have passed from the last dose.

7) Passengers who are not within the scope of the first, second, fourth and sixth articles and will enter Turkey are expected to submit the documents/certificates issued by WHO (World Health Organization) or T.C. Ministry of Health at the first point of departure that they have been administered minimum two doses of vaccine (one dose for Johnson and Johnson) within minimum 14 days before entering Turkey or have had COVID-19 disease within the past six months starting from the 28th day of the first PCR test with a positive result. These passengers shall not be required to submit a PCR/rapid antigen test report with a negative result and quarantine measures shall not be applied for them. In case of failure to submit a vaccination certificate or documents indicating that the passenger had COVID-19 disease, it shall be deemed adequate to submit a PCR test with a negative result taken within a maximum of 72 hours before entry or the negative rapid antigen test result taken within maximum 48 hours before entry.

8) Passengers may be subject to a PCR test that means the method of sampling at points of arrival in Turkey. Within this scope, these passengers shall be allowed to proceed to their final destination after their test samples are taken. If their test results are positive, they shall be taken under treatment following the COVID-19 Guidelines of the Ministry of Health. The passengers with positive test results and persons having been in close contact with such passengers shall be taken under quarantine for 14 days at the addresses they have determined, and if the results of the PCR tests to be taken at the end of the 10th day are negative, the quarantine shall be ended. The quarantines of these people who are identified to have Delta variant shall be ended upon submitting a negative PCR test result at the end of the 14th day.

In addition to the information given above;

  • Passengers under the age of 12 are exempted from the PCR/Antigen test report and the application of the certificate of the vaccine.
  • The requirements listed above shall not apply for the transfer of passengers from international line to international line.
  • Our passengers (excluding transfer passengers and passengers under the age of 12) to enter Turkey by using our international flights from March 15, 2021 (Local time in Turkey) are required to fill in the form of Entry to Turkey, which can be accessed via this page, within 72 hours before their flight. A printout copy or mobile screenshot of the completed form shall be checked at the stations before the flight.
  • The aircraft crew, seamen and truck drivers shall be exempted from SARS-CoV-2 PCR testing and application of quarantine.
  • As well as the PCR tests to be submitted by our passengers to enter Turkey, RNA and nucleic acid tests shall be accepted.
  • All passengers must wear masks at the airports and during flights.
  • It is obligatory to submit a HES code for flights taken within Turkey. There is no HES code obligation for our non-Turkish citizens. For further information, please check our page Hayat Eve Sığar.
  • Vaccination certificates of Serbia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Iraq, Libya, Japan, Indonesia, Philippines and Egypt are accepted by the Republic of Turkey for passengers who will enter Turkey with a vaccination certificate.