Minister Karaismailoğlu Issues Statement on Hot Air Balloon Tours

Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu announced that hot air balloon tours, which had been suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will resume as of 22 August with coronavirus precautions in place. Noting that the rules to be observed for balloon flights, which are used by an average of over 600,000 tourists each year, had been formalized into a circular, Minister Karaismailoğlu said: “Arrangements have been made regarding all precautions to be taken before, during and after balloon flights, to the extent determined by the Ministry of Health and international organizations.”

Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu stated that, along with countries around the world, the national struggle continues through the measures taken against the coronavirus pandemic that has also affected Türkiye. He noted that, following the start of the normalization process in Türkiye and around the world, flights aboard aircraft had begun to gradually reopen, and that citizens were using transport modes without being adversely affected.

Recalling that hot air balloon flights had also been negatively affected by the Covid-19 pandemic during this period, and that flights had therefore been suspended during the outbreak, Minister Karaismailoğlu noted that, with the gradual reopening of reciprocal flights with other countries, tourists had shown intense interest in our regions where hot air balloon flights are conducted—foremost among them Cappadocia, which showcases the beauty of our country—just as they had in all our tourism regions. Karaismailoğlu said: “Following the assessments made, we will resume balloon flights as of 22 August, on the condition that coronavirus precautions are applied.”

Circular prepared

Announcing that the rules to be observed for balloon flights had been determined by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and formalized into a circular, Minister Karaismailoğlu said the following:

“Arrangements have been made regarding all precautions to be taken before, during and after balloon flights, to the extent determined by our Ministry of Health and international organizations. With the circular that is now in the process of being published, masks, distancing, personal hygiene, disinfection and other operational matters have been regulated.”

Stating that the number of passengers would be reduced in sections where the balloon basket compartment capacity is set at 4 or more, in order to help maintain the social distancing rule, Karaismailoğlu explained that, under the circular prepared, each passenger's temperature measurement time and temperature reading would be recorded in the passenger manifests. Minister Karaismailoğlu underlined that the necessary precautions would also be taken to continuously maintain social distancing during ground operations.

50,000 passengers up to March

Recalling that an average of 600,000 tourists use hot air balloons in Türkiye each year, and that this figure exceeded 660,000 in 2019, Karaismailoğlu said that 50,000 people had taken part in hot air balloon tours up until March, when the flights were suspended.

Noting that hot air balloon travel is an important attraction for tourists visiting major tourist regions around the world, Minister Karaismailoğlu emphasized that many tourism regions with remarkable, distinctive features had reinforced these qualities through hot air balloon flights, becoming veritable brand destinations in world tourism. Pointing out that the Cappadocia Region is one of these brand destinations, Karaismailoğlu said: “The Cappadocia Region is one of the world's foremost tourist regions, recognized both as a tourism destination and as a hot air balloon hub. Hot air balloon flights are undoubtedly one of the prominent tourism activities for the province of Nevşehir and the Cappadocia Region, and they are of vital importance not only for the region's tourism but also for the country's tourism as a whole. I believe that the recent increase in our international air passenger flights, together with the rise in reservations at hotels located in balloon flight regions, will lead to a significant increase in the number of balloon passengers by the end of the year.”