The United Arab Emirates is to offer cheap airfare to Australians who travel to Turkey for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The country’s leading carrier, Emirates, will sell tickets to anyone travelling on its subsidiary airline TAP in Turkey for $40 (AUD$50) and has agreed to extend the deal to the rest of the world, including Australia.
The UAE is a member of the European Union and has a number of agreements with the EU and the US that make it a favoured destination for international travellers.
The airline’s decision to extend its deal with Turkey comes a day after the government announced it would ban Australians from the country for two months and a ban on people with dual citizenship.
The ban will affect people from five Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain, with the other countries including Egypt and the UAE allowing people with citizenship to fly.
It will be extended to the United Arab Emirate in the coming days.
Emirates will be the first airline to offer direct air travel to the country, which is currently ranked the seventh-most expensive airline in the world.
Emiratis offer cheap flights to Turkey, but some countries have refused to allow them to operate there, citing security concerns.
The government said it had ordered the ban on the flights, which are expected to be lifted by the end of the year, to protect travellers from terrorist attacks in Turkey.
“This is a clear message to terrorists that they cannot threaten Australians,” Prime Minister Peter Dutton said.
Turkish authorities said the government had “failed” to respect the right of Turkish nationals to travel to Australia.
Some Turkish citizens are living in Australia and have been granted citizenship and some are travelling to Australia for medical treatment.
But some of those with dual nationality in Turkey have also said they are being prevented from travelling to the Middle East or to Australia because of the ban.
The ban on Turkish nationals will be effective from January 1.
An Emirati man holds a photo of a man with his son in Istanbul, Turkey, after the plane carrying him on a plane from Dubai landed at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport.
The restrictions were announced after the country announced plans to extend air travel from other countries.
While some airlines have offered cheaper flights to the UAE, Emirates is the only carrier to offer such flights directly to Turkey.TAP said the offer of cheaper flights would help all passengers “in need of a short-term travel option”, with “no hassle” as well as “low fuel prices”.
Emira Airways will be offering discounted fares for people from the following countries: Saudi Arabia , Bahrain, Egypt , Kuwait , Oman , Qatar , United Arab Arabia , United Kingdom and United States.
Eritrea is also a member and will be able to offer discounted fares to Turkish citizens.