Tickets to Ercan soar to 22,000 lira after ferry disaster near Girne

After the ferry disaster near Girne, airfares to the TRNC have risen several times over: on 31 August, a flight from Türkiye’s Çukurova Airport to Ercan, which takes 45–50 minutes, cost more than 21,000 lira.

One TRNC resident published a screenshot showing a price of 21,696 lira for the flight. Demand for air travel surged after Sunday’s disaster: the Filo Jet ferry, travelling from Girne to Taşucu in Türkiye, capsized 8 km from the port; eight people were killed, and 18 people who remain missing are being searched for on the second day. A three-day mourning period has been declared in the TRNC.

Girne Mayor Murat Şenkul said that the increased demand for flights was understandable, but the rise in ticket prices from 6,000 to 22,000 lira was not. According to him, even in such circumstances, commercial calculations had taken precedence over human needs.

Şenkul also said that hundreds of people had been waiting at Girne port for departure since Sunday, and called on companies not involved in the accident to resume services when weather conditions allowed — changing the route for leaving the port so as not to interfere with search-and-rescue operations.

The sharp increase in prices has been attributed to airlines’ dynamic pricing and last-minute fares, which are triggered by emergency demand. On social media, Turkish Cypriots called on transport companies to abandon the logic of supply and demand during an emergency.