Sulaymaniyah Welcomes Back Turkish Airlines after 2½ Years: What Travelers Need to Know

Turkish Airlines (TK), the flag carrier of Turkey, has resumed scheduled service between Istanbul Airport (IST), Türkiye, and Sulaymaniyah International Airport (ISU), Iraq, marking the return of the route after its suspension in April 2023. The relaunch increases the carrier’s Iraqi network to aerodromes in six cities: Baghdad, Basra, Erbil, Kirkuk, Najaf and now Sulaymaniyah.

Flights will initially operate four times per week—Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays—before a planned upgrade to daily service from 27 March 2026 under the 2026 summer schedule. The reinstatement is intended to deepen economic, tourism and cultural ties between Türkiye and Iraq’s Kurdistan Region.

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Flight Details for Turkish Airlines Sulaymaniyah route

Turkish Airlines will deploy flights between Istanbul Airport (IST) and Sulaymaniyah International Airport (ISU) four times weekly at first (Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays) starting 2 November 2025. The airline has indicated that from the summer schedule dated 27 March 2026 the service will increase to daily.

Detail	TK 808	TK 809
Start	02.11.2025	03.11.2025
End	27.03.2026	28.03.2026
Days	Monday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday	Monday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday
From	IST (Istanbul Airport)	ISU (Sulaymaniyah International Airport)
Departure	22:30	02:40
To	ISU (Sulaymaniyah International Airport)	IST (Istanbul Airport)
Arrival	01:10	05:40

The relaunch opens direct connectivity between Türkiye and Iraq’s Kurdish region via Sulaymaniyah, providing passengers with a non-stop option rather than relying on multi-leg routes. This reinstated direct link is expected to benefit business, leisure and diaspora travel, said Prof. Ahmet Bolat stated, Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee;

“We are glad to relaunch our Sulaymaniyah flights, connecting this destination which boasts rich cultural and natural heritage to the world with the comfort and hospitality of Turkish Airlines. With this route, we will not only further strengthen our presence in the region but also continue to contribute to the trade and cultural ties between Türkiye and Iraq.”

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Turkish’s Network Expansion in Iraq

With Sulaymaniyah added, Turkish Airlines’ destination network in Iraq now encompasses the following six airports:

City	Full Airport Name
Baghdad	Baghdad International Airport
Basra	Basra International Airport
Erbil	Erbil International Airport
Kirkuk	Kirkuk International Airport
Najaf	Al Najaf International Airport
Sulaymaniyah	Sulaymaniyah International Airport

In April 2023, Türkiye suspended flights and prohibited use of Turkish airspace by carriers travelling to Sulaymaniyah International Airport (ISU), citing increased activity by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Turkish Airlines suspended flights to Sulaymaniyah Airport around two and a half years earlier, with the decision linked to alleged growing ties between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). The suspension was also reportedly connected to concerns over an alleged air corridor between Iraq and Syria that was said to have been used to transport senior PKK members.

The airline’s return followed diplomatic engagement between Türkiye and the Kurdistan Regional Government. A meeting in Ankara on October 9, 2025, between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani helped pave the way for the restoration of services.

The decision also came amid a new peace initiative involving the PKK and Türkiye, under which the group agreed to disband and end its armed conflict. A symbolic disarmament ceremony was subsequently held near Sulaymaniyah in July 2025.

Sulaymaniyah Airport’s director confirmed that Turkish Airlines operated its first flight back to the airport in two and a half years on November 3, 2025.

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Which Aircraft Does Turkish Operate on the Istanbul – Sulaymaniyah Route?

According to data from FlightConnections, Turkish Airlines operates a Boeing 737-800 on the Istanbul-Sulaymaniyah route. Turkish is also the sole carrier offering a non-stop flight on this route. Turkish Airlines has 40 aircraft of this type in its fleet and these average 10.9 years.

Despite the capacity to accommodate 189 passengers, the first Turkish Airlines flight that landed in Sulaimaniyah Airport had 105 passengers on board, while the one that departed to Istanbul had 123 passengers, reported Arab News. Here’s how the carrier’s seating arrangements are in the two-class layout, as detailed by SeatMaps.

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Framework and Strategic Significance of Turkish’s Istanbul-Sulaymaniyah route

According to rudaw.net, Rebaz Mohamed, the acting CEO of Sulaimani International Airport, said that the airport was looking to offer connections across various European airports. The same source also revealed that President Barzani was the one who successfully persuaded the Turkish President to lift it suspensions of flights to Sulaymaniah. Earlier last month, the Kurdistan Region Presidency had expressed gratitude to President Erdogan for lifting the ban:

“This decision comes within the framework of the strong relations between the Kurdistan Region and the Republic of Turkey, which we are confident will be helpful in advancing mutual cooperation and serve the interests of both sides – especially our citizens in Sulaimani province.”

However, challenges remain: sustaining load factors on a route that was inactive, ensuring regional security remains stable, and managing competition from other carriers seeking to exploit the reopened route are some of the hurdles that Turkish will have to get through.