Minister of Transportation, Maritime and Communication Binali Yıldırım announced on Sunday that 290 no fly-zones will be opened for commercial flights, which in return will mean a savings of TL 1.5 billion ($500 million) annually.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), Yıldırım explained that with the flexible flight zone project being worked out with Turkish Air Forces, civilian technical teams currently working with military aviation authorities on how long no-flight zones will be used, and how commercial airplanes will be flying over these zones.

"Just like anywhere else in the world, our first priority is the safety of our state, and we are aiming to save time and money by opening these no-flight zones to commercial flights as long as such flights do not pose a threat to security," Yıldırım said.

Explaining that the works on this issue are almost at the final stage, he noted that Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) will continue to use the military corridors according to their requirements and commercial flights will not be entering into these zones during military training and exercises.

If TSK has requirements, these will be determined and scheduled beforehand, Yıldırım said, and in case of emergencies, the "Civil Military Coordination Center" will decide on the schedules and commercial flights will not be allowed into the military air zones.

Yıldırım stated that currently a flight taking off from Istanbul goes to İzmir flying over the western province of Çanakkale, however if such a flight were to follow the actual direct air line between the two provinces, the flight time would be less. This route is the busiest in Turkey and among the busiest in Europe, however, the direct air line between the two cities flies over two main air force bases in Balıkesir province, and the flight routes need to be carefully regulated.

Yıldırım added that air routes are as circuitous as highways as flights have to be set by considering the military facilities and exercise zones along their way. However, the military only uses these zones for an hour or two each day and since there is no coordination, Yıldırım said, and flights have to cover almost another 50 kilometers in addition. "If the flight chooses to take the direct air line, then the flights would be five minutes shorter. While five minutes might not sound much, in aviation it means 10 percent savings in terms of fuel, pilot expenses, and maintenance expenses. If the route of an airplane which consumes 62 liters of fuel per minute gets shorter by one minute, it means that 160 kilograms less carbon dioxide emissions. As a result, more than TL 1.5 billion would be saved annually," Yıldırım added.