Turkish Airlines plans to fly to more Asian destinations while stepping up its service between Istanbul and Bangkok, its president says.
Kotil: We want larger share of the pie
Turkey’s flag carrier is due to start flying to Jakarta next month. And it plans to introduce regular flights to Manila and Ho Chi Minh City, initially via Bangkok, in 2011.
The airline will double the flights on its non-stop Bangkok-Istanbul route to 14 per week this December to capitalise on the high-season demand, Temel Kotil, the president and CEO, said in Bangkok yesterday.
Turkish Airlines is currently in discussions with Thai Airways International to establish a code-share agreement, enabling the carriers to expand the network coverage the can offer passengers.
“We really want to strike the deal with THAI because it benefits both of us, enabling us capture the larger pie [of business],” said Dr Kotil.
The fact that THAI does not operate flights to Turkey would not put the carrier at a disadvantage, he said.
The 49% state-owned Turkish Airlines has code-share agreements with carriers such as All Nippon Airways and United Airlines, which cover destinations in Japan and the United States.
Turkish currently flies to 118 international destinations, 17 in Asia, plus 36 cities in Turkey.
The delivery of 19 new aircraft, including seven Airbus A330s and seven Boeing B777s, worth more than $2.5 billion, during 2011 to 2012 is central to the carrier’s international and Asian expansion, said the CEO.
It currently has a fleet of 132 aircraft, 49 of which are deployed on long-haul flights.
Turkish is on course to carry 26.7 million passengers this year, with plans to increase volume to 40 million by 2012.
The carrier is one of the global airline industry’s success stories.
While most other airlines face severe contractions, Turkish was recently ranked the fourth best performing airline of the year by AviationWeek. It posted 9% growth in passenger traffic in the first half of this year, with distance flown rising by 17% and seat capacity up 28%.
The airline, listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange, saw its passenger volumes rise steadily from 11.99 million in 2004 to 22.53 million in 2008.
Bron: Bangkok Post
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