Taking ashes on a Turkish Airlines flight

Can you take ashes on a plane with Turkish Airlines?

Turkish Airlines allows you to travel with human ashes on their flights. These are their rules, and we recommend you follow them to ensure a stress-free journey:

• Turkish Airlines allows ashes to be taken within your carry-on or hold luggage.
• Turkish Airlines only allow the transportation of human ashes.
• Ashes must be transported in a wooden box or an urn made of security-friendly materials. 
• The wooden box or urn must be packed with shock-absorbing material to protect against breakage. 
• Turkish Airlines require you to travel with a certificate of death and cremation.

If you’re travelling with ashes without the correct paperwork, Turkish Airlines may not allow you to bring ashes on your flight and may remove them from your luggage. This unfortunate outcome can be avoided by being properly prepared.

Turkish Airlines flight urn restrictions

Turkish Airlines allow you to transport ashes within an urn on their flights, providing you follow these rules:

1. The urn you travel with must be constructed from security-friendly materials that can pass through X-ray scanners at airport security. These materials include glass, wood, ceramic, marble, or plastic. As long as the urn is non-metallic and not too heavy, it should be able to pass security without any problems.
2. The urn must fit within your carry-on or hold luggage. You cannot travel with the urn alone and must transport it in a bag.
3. The combined weight of the urn and your hand luggage must be within Turkish Airlines baggage weight restrictions – 8kg max hand luggage, 20kg/30kg max hold luggage (depending on your route and ticket type).
4. The hand luggage must fit within Turkish Airlines size restrictions.

Turkish Airlines flight baggage allowance

Turkish Airlines allows all customers to board with one free piece of hand luggage. This hand luggage should measure no bigger than 55cm x 40cm x 23cm and weigh no more than 8kg.

Turkish Airlines standard hold luggage weight is 20kg, but depending on your flight or ticket type, you may be entitled to a 30kg allowance. The maximum dimensions (L+W+H) they allow is 158cm.

 

Where can I fly to with ashes? 

Turkish Airlines allows you to transport human and animal ashes to any country they fly into, provided you’ve followed their guidelines. Different countries have varying regulations for transporting ashes, so we recommended researching the specific rules of the country you are travelling to before your journey.

Arriving at your destination without the necessary documentation can lead to your loved one’s ashes being confiscated or being denied entry by customs. To prevent any issues, we recommended contacting the country’s embassy and inquiring about the required paperwork for transporting ashes across their border.