Turkish Airlines announced that the year 2020 will witness the launch of new international destinations, the modernization of its fleet of aircraft, with the latest ones, as well as its expansion.
This was stated by Ilker Ayci, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company, in an interview with Anadolu Agency, in which he said that his company intends to launch flights to 4 new destinations around the world in 2020.
He added that they have completed all procedures to launch flights to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Newark, New Jersey and Vancouver in Canada, that they are now only waiting for the necessary permits.
He explained that besides operating flights to new destinations, the airline will also focus on increasing the number of flights, noting that the total number of destinations reached 318 cities in 126 countries, by the end of 2019.
With regard to the transfer of airlines, including Turkish Airlines, from Ataturk Airport to the newly opened Istanbul International Airport, during last April, Eiji described it as one of the most prominent events in the world of aviation during 2019.
He added that “Turkish Airlines had to have a strong infrastructure to support its development, in order to achieve its goals without interruption.”
In another context, Ayci said that Turkish Airlines continues to expand its fleet with next-generation aircraft with the replacement of old aircraft, adding: “With the size of our current fleet, we are ranked tenth among passenger airlines in the world.”
At the end of 2019, the company had 351 aircraft, including 98 large aircraft, 229 small aircraft, and 24 cargo aircraft, while it had 332 aircraft at the beginning of the year.
Eiji added, “Among the top ten, we have the fourth most modern fleet. In 2020, 28 more aircraft will be added to the fleet,” stressing that the company is open to leasing options.
Eiji stated that “despite the 11.5 percent contraction in the domestic market, the company received 28.3 million passengers on domestic flights, increasing its market share by 2.5 percent,” while international flights witnessed an increase in the number of passengers by 3.5 percent to 40.4 million.
Turkish Airlines owns 15 subsidiaries and joint ventures, including “Turkish Cargo Company”, “Turkish Technical Company”, “Turkish Ground Services Company”, “Turkish Opt Jet Fuel Company” and “SunExpress”.
With regard to Turkish cargo operations, he explained that the company continued its growth even at a time when the global air cargo sector shrank by 3.5 percent, adding: “Despite these unfavorable market conditions, and having to carry out our freight operations at two different airports, we recorded an increase of 9.5 percent. In freight volume to reach 1.4 million tons.
He added that “Turkish Shipping” achieved massive revenues of $452 million in the first three quarters.
Regarding the operating rates of the Turkish company, he explained that Turkish Airlines achieved a 2.7 percent increase in operation, from January to November 2019, stressing that this came, despite stopping the operation of 12 aircraft. Boeing 737 Max, and delaying the delivery of 12 new Airbus A321neo aircraft, after accidents that killed hundreds of people and cost the company billions of dollars in losses.
And last March, Turkish Airlines announced that it was stopping the operation of 12 Boeing 737 Max aircraft, after the crash of the Ethiopian plane, which killed 157 people.
And last Tuesday, Turkish Airlines announced that Boeing had agreed to compensate it for losses caused by decommissioned and undelivered aircraft.
The company said in a statement, “Boeing will cover some of its losses and revenues that it was unable to obtain, due to the discontinuation of aircraft of that model.”
It is noteworthy that in the first 11 months of 2019, Turkish Airlines carried 68.8 million passengers.