Turkey is now offering complimentary seven-day transit visas to Pakistanis

Applicants must have valid visas for their final destination

Turkey will begin issuing complimentary seven-day transit visas to Pakistani nationals travelling on Turkish Airlines.

Single-transit visas will be issued to those travelling from Pakistan on the condition that they have a valid visa for their final destination and are not banned from entering Turkey, according to Gerry's.

The visas can be obtained from the Turkish Embassy in Islamabad or consulates in the rest of the country.

In January, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Turkish Airlines agreed to expand cooperation in flying each other’s passengers through connecting flights. That deal kicked in on February 1.



“The expanded codeshare cooperation provides passengers with more feasible connections as well as seamless travel opportunities between and beyond destinations in Turkey and Pakistan,” Turkish Airlines said in a statement issued after CEOs of the two airlines signed the expanded codeshare agreement.

Turkish Airlines would market PIA flights from Karachi and Islamabad to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Muscat and from Lahore to Dubai and Abu Dhabi with its own airline code and flight number, the statement added.

The agreement has also allowed Pakistan’s flag carrier to sell Turkish Airlines’ flights beyond Istanbul points of Atlanta, Johannesburg, Athens, Amsterdam, Tashkent, Moscow, Miami, Boston, Houston, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago with its own airline code and flight number.

This is in addition to the already existing cooperation on Istanbul-Karachi/ Islamabad/ Lahore routes, it further stated.

PIA CEO Bernd Hildenbrand said in the statement the codeshare expansion would “add more value to our commercial ties and be equally beneficial for our customers.”

“We will continue to explore more commercial avenues in the future as well,” he added.

Turkish Airlines CEO and Deputy Chairman Bilal Eksi added that passengers would be able to travel with easier connections and more flexible alternatives.

“The more the frequencies between two countries in the future, the further the cooperation between the two carriers will be expanded so as to enable passengers to travel with even shorter connection times and more comfortable travel opportunities,” he said.