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CWT Partner: Turkish Airlines

Turkish Airlines: an overview

Established in May 1933, Turkish Airlines is today one of the fastest growing airlines in the world and already #4 in Europe. This spring, the Turkish national airline was awarded the widely-acclaimed Skytrax World Airline Award™ for the best airline in Southern Europe for a second time, and also came out on top in the “Best Onboard Catering – Economy Class” category. The Star Alliance member currently flies a fleet of 142 aircraft to 157 destinations worldwide.

Turkish Airlines already boasts one of the largest and newest European aircraft fleets. At the start of 2010, they announced their order of a further 65 Boeing and Airbus aircraft. This will mean an increased fleet size with a total of 196 machines by the end of 2015. As a consequence, the flight network can be expanded with further international routes in the future, particularly in the Middle and Far East and Africa. Destinations such as Sochi (Russia), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and Entebbe (Uganda) have already been added to the flight network this year, and further routes including connections to Vietnam and Bangladesh, as well as an increase in the frequency of flights to Bangkok are to follow in the second half of the year.

At the start of 2010, Turkish Airlines caused a buzz with its sponsorship of two European football clubs, namely Manchester United and FC Barcelona. Similar to both of these top clubs, Turkish Airlines has also set itself the goal of being #1 in Europe. These partnerships are to help strengthen brand positioning in the important European market.

The palate should also be indulged though! In September 2006, Turkish Airlines entered a joint venture with Austrian catering company, Do&Co. Today Turkish Do&Co produces the fresh dishes for Turkish Airlines at nine locations in Turkey, and thus has a significant influence on the airline's high level of quality. Guests are served a hot meal or snack on all flights and in all travel classes. These endeavours were rewarded in spring 2010 when the airline was presented with the Skytrax Award for the best economy class catering worldwide.

The flight network
In recent years – and particularly since joining the Star Alliance – Turkish Airlines has continually expanded the flight network from its hub at Istanbul-Atatürk Airport. Thanks to its geographic location, the metropolis on the Bosporus is ideal as a transfer airport for flights to Europe, Asia, Africa and the Near East. From Istanbul, all major European cities can be reached within four hours, the Near East within four to six, and Central Asia in around six hours.

Within Turkey alone, Turkish Airlines flies to 35 destinations and holds a 63.4% market share. Among the most important international destinations count the Asian metropolises of Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Seoul and Tokyo, as well as the Indian destinations of Mumbai and New Delhi. The Central Asia region with airports such as Almaty (Kazakhstan), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) and Tashkent (Uzbekistan) is also growing in importance.

Turkish Airlines in Switzerland
Turkish Airlines has been flying to Switzerland for 43 years now. After Zurich, flights to Geneva followed in 1972, and since 1979, there has also been a connection to EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg. Today Turkish Airlines flies twice daily to Zurich and Geneva; there is also one flight per day between Basel and Istanbul. And since April 2010, there has additionally been a codeshare agreement on all flights between Switzerland and Istanbul with Star Alliance partner, Swiss.

(All times are local.)

Miles & Smiles frequent flyer programme
With Miles & Smiles, Turkish Airlines has its own frequent flyer programme with over 1,650,000 members worldwide. Miles can also be collected with all partner airlines of the Star Alliance group.

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