newstodate.aero
Nov 18, 2005 (newstodate): A Turkish threat to arrest an aircraft from Air Astana put a halt to service on the route between Istanbul and Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday.
The new route is served jointly by Turkish Airlines and Air Astana.
-Shortly before start we received the information that the Turkish authorities would arrest our aircraft upon landing in Turkey in security for a debt to a private Turkish citizen by the Kazakhstan National Bank, says Azat Bekturov, Air Astana VP PR and Legal Issues.
-Obviously we were exasperated by the turn of events as we fail to understand the connection between the dispute between a citizen of Turkey and a Kazakh bank with aviation and flight permissions.
-The events have absolutely nothing to do with the airline's activities and are beyond its control. To our knowledge, this was an unprecedented move against civil aviation, he says.
After 12 hours delay, the issue was cleared up, and the permission given to perform the flight.
The new route is served jointly by Turkish Airlines and Air Astana.
-Shortly before start we received the information that the Turkish authorities would arrest our aircraft upon landing in Turkey in security for a debt to a private Turkish citizen by the Kazakhstan National Bank, says Azat Bekturov, Air Astana VP PR and Legal Issues.
-Obviously we were exasperated by the turn of events as we fail to understand the connection between the dispute between a citizen of Turkey and a Kazakh bank with aviation and flight permissions.
-The events have absolutely nothing to do with the airline's activities and are beyond its control. To our knowledge, this was an unprecedented move against civil aviation, he says.
After 12 hours delay, the issue was cleared up, and the permission given to perform the flight.