*To Start London-Istanbul-PH June 24
Turkish Airlines announced that it airlifted about 75.2 million passengers in 2018 from its 307 destinations.
The airline which announced that it would start London-Istanbul-Port Harcourt flight on June 24, 2019, said it hoped to expand its aircraft fleet from the current 336 to 500 in the next four years.
Mehmet Asik, General Manager, Abuja operations of the airline, who spoke alongside Yunus Ozbek, General Manager, Turkish Airline, Lagos, at a press conference on the activities of the airline globally, also said it prioritise safety above everything in the company, adding that it has also grounded the nine MAX 8 aircraft in the fleet.
“The fleet age is very important to us, Turkish airline fleet is one of the youngest in the world, the newer the fleet the more efficient it is, we operate to 307 destinations n the world, we have 336 aircraft in our fleet and in the next years, we plan to increase the fleet to approximately 500”, he said.
On cargo operations, he said the traffic grew from 145,000 tons in 2005 to 1 million tons annually in 2018, adding that it records the highest tons from Lagos where it operates three weekly flights.
Speaking on products and services, Asik said its Business Class catering is the best in the world while the economy catering is number two.
“We always try to keep the travel experience in the Business Class as the best. We have 350 movies in in-flight, we have free on board WI-FI apart from the flying Chef who prepares passengers’ meal onboard, this is why we have the best catering in the world.
“We have the corporate club, which offers benefits such as discount, incentives and excess baggage. We also have the Miles and Smiles where we reward frequent flyers and loyal customers. There is also the Istanbul Tour for transit passengers.. In this programme, we take passengers on sightseeing of historical places in Istanbul and offer them free breakfast and lunch before joining their flights. We fly to more countries in the world than any other airline, so in terms of international destinations, we are number one.
“Between 2011 and 2016, we won Europe’s best airline for 6 years in a row by SKYTRAX, our Lounge in Istanbul is bigger than some airports, the second one would be opened for passengers soon, airport hosted 68 million passengers in 2018, 46 million tourists visited Istanbul in 2018. The new airport, which is being constructed in for phases has capacity for 90 million passengers annually and would in few years increase to 200 million”, he added.
