Tag Archives: Bilal Ekşi

Turkish Airlines added Xi’an, the Chinese city with three thousand years of history, to its flight network on December 30, 2019. Xi’an became the flag carrier’s fourth destination in Mainland China and the 318th destination in the world. The flights will be operated three times a week with Airbus A330 aircrafts. Starting its flights to People’s Republic of China back in 1999 with Beijing as its destination, Turkish Airlines reinforced its strong position in Asia with the Xi’an flights. With this new addition, global carrier’s flight network encompassed the entirety of the historical Silk Road that started in Xi’an and ended in Venice. During the ceremony of the inaugural flight Bilal Ekşi, Turkish Airlines General Manager, stated, “We will carry our guests to 126 countries from Xi’an, one of the most significant historical capitals while transferring the historical Silk Road to above clouds with our cargo operations. Our new flights will also contribute to the tourist numbers coming to our country with the increasing attention from Chinese tourists to tourism centres of Turkey.” Turkish Airlines passengers travelling to Xi’an, one of the oldest civilizations of the world, will have the opportunity to explore the numerous cultural heritages along with the historical fabric of the three thousand years old city. Serving as the capital of 13 different dynasties during the history of China, the region’s most popular destination is the Terracotta Army, which draws over two million tourists annually.

Turkish Airlines and LOT Polish Airlines announced the enhancement of their current codeshare agreement with additional destinations both from Turkish Airlines’ and LOT’s flight network. “With the introduction of joint flights on several destinations in Poland, Turkey, Middle East and Africa, passengers would enjoy more travel alternatives through the combined flights. Without a doubt, this agreement will help in increasing the commercial and tourism ties of our countries,” said Bilal Ekşi, Deputy Chairman & CEO, Turkish Airlines. Joint flights will offer fast and convenient connections for customers leaving Istanbul, the biggest Turkish city and also an important flight hub in the world, to Warsaw and beyond. “ The enhanced partnership with Turkish Airlines will help us not only expand LOT route network and offer many new attractive destinations to our passengers but also improve connectivity and travel experience on existing codeshare routes beyond Istanbul, such as Ankara, Cairo or Amman,” said Rafal Milczarski, CEO & President of the Management Board of LOT Polish Airlines. Passengers will also enjoy both domestic and international connections from Istanbul. Moreover, taking into account the complementary structure of time-tables of both carriers and agreement working reciprocally, it will allow both airlines’ customers to enjoy seamless connectivity in their respective hubs. LOT Polish Airlines and Turkish Airlines passengers have also the benefit of accruing and redeeming miles in their respective loyalty programs, Miles&More and Miles&Smiles on all flights of both carriers.

Turkish Airlines and Kuwait Airways announced a new strategic partnership, which saw Kuwait national carrier’s code added to Turkish Airlines flights, and Turkey’s national carrier’s code added to Kuwait Airways flights operated between Kuwait and Istanbul/Sabiha Gokcen Airports. The Bilateral Codeshare Partnership will commence from August 1, 2019. Turkish Airlines and Kuwait Airways’ cooperation is further strengthened by signing the renewed ‘Special Prorate Agreement’ in May 2019. The signing ceremony of this codeshare agreement took place on July 9, 2019 at Turkish Airlines Headquarters in Istanbul, and was attended by Bilal Ekşi, General Manager of Turkish Airlines, and Yousef Al-Jassem Al-Saqer, Chairman of Kuwait Airways, along with respective delegation from both airlines. Turkish Airlines General Manager, Bilal Ekşi, said he is pleased with the new codeshare agreement signed with Kuwait Airways and added that the agreement would not only contribute to the carrier’s existing commercial relations with Kuwait Airways but also offer alternative connections between Turkey and Kuwait for Turkish Airlines passengers. “Istanbul is the natural and historical connection point between Asia and Europe. With its brilliant performance over the last 16 years, Turkish Airlines holds the title of the airline that flies to the highest number of countries in the world with 124 countries. The opening of our new home base, Istanbul Airport will further contribute and create new opportunities for our airline and I firmly believe that this codeshare agreement will support promoting the cultural and commercial relations between Istanbul and Kuwait,” Ekşi added.  

Two of the leading airlines Turkish Airlines and LOT Polish Airlines announced the enhancement of their current codeshare agreement with additional destinations both from Turkish Airlines’ and LOT’s flight network. Through this enhanced partnership, Turkish Airlines and LOT will reciprocally add their flight codes on the following  flights in addition to Istanbul-Warsaw, from Warsaw to Krakow, Gdansk, Szczecin, Poznan, Wroclaw, Katowice and Rzeszow. From Istanbul to Ankara, Bahrain, Izmir, Beirut, Adana, Baghdad, Antalya, Dubai, Dalaman, Kuwait, Amman, Budapest, Cairo and Johannesburg. “With the introduction of joint flights on several destinations in Poland, Turkey, Middle East and Africa, passengers would enjoy more travel alternatives through the combined flights. Without a doubt, this agreement will help increase the commercial and tourism ties of our countries,” said Bilal Ekşi, Turkish Airlines’ Deputy Chairman & CEO. Joint flights will offer fast and convenient connections for customers leaving Istanbul, the biggest Turkish city and also an important flight hub in the world, to Warsaw and beyond. “The enhanced partnership with Turkish Airlines will help us not only expand LOT route network and offer many new attractive destinations to our passengers but also improve connectivity and travel experience on existing codeshare routes beyond Istanbul, such as Ankara, Cairo or Amman,” said Rafal Milczarski, CEO & President of the Management Board of LOT Polish Airlines.  

Turkish Airlines and Oman Air have revised the codeshare agreement signed earlier. Under the revised agreement, Turkish Airlines will codeshare on Oman Air operating flights to Salalah while Oman Air will codeshare on Turkish Airlines operating flights to Rome, Copenhagen and Algiers. The codeshare agreement allows guests to benefit from the outstanding products and services offered by both carriers on these routes. Bilal Ekşi, Deputy Chairman and CEO, Turkish Airlines expressed, “Witnessing Oman Air’s direct flights to Istanbul within the scope of our existing codeshare agreement has always pleased us. Now extending this agreement in order to increase the travel opportunities offered for our passengers through our networks made us more delighted. We believe that this codeshare enhancement with Oman Air will exposure further cooperation opportunities for both airlines together with growing relations between our countries.” Abdulaziz Al Raisi, Chief Executive Officer, Oman Air commented, “Oman Air is happy and proud to be associating with Turkish Airlines which is a globally recognized network carrier. It is an ideal partner for Oman Air, which has justifiably attracted a reputation for offering the highest levels of comfort, luxury and outstanding service. As we continue to expand globally, codeshare agreements such as this help us spread our wings to newer destinations and bring us more partners and guests.” Turkish Airlines and Oman Air currently operate one daily flight each on the Muscat-Istanbul route under the reciprocal codeshare agreement. The schedule of these flights are designed to complement each other by allowing same day return trip at Muscat and Istanbul.

The latest addition to the growing network of Turkish Airlines is Samarkand, making it the second destination of Turkish Airlines to be operated in Uzbekistan after capital city Tashkent. Founded on the Silk Road,  Samarkand is one of the most important transportation lines of world trade for centuries. Istanbul-Samarkand flights will be operated twice a week in both directions. Round trip fares are available from Istanbul to Samarkand starting from $364 including all taxes and fees. Bilal Ekşi, CEO, Turkish Airlines said, “We have launched direct flights to Samarkand from 121 countries. We are glad to serve this city that is the eternal resting place for historical figures and scholars. Turkish Airlines is operating flights to Tashkent seven times per week and to Samarkand flights twice a week. We expect that the frequency of Samarkand flights will reach to three per week.”

Effective from November 1, 2017, Gulf Air and Turkish Airlines signed a codeshare agreement to expand travel opportunities for the passengers of both airlines with daily flights between Bahrain and Istanbul. The signing ceremony took place at Turkish Airlines’ Istanbul headquarters. Gulf Air’s Captain Waleed Abdul Hameed Al Alawi and Turkish Airlines’ Deputy Chairman and CEO, Bilal Ekşi signed the agreement together in the presence of senior officials from both airlines. This new agreement will be applied to the flights operated by both carriers to Manama and Istanbul, broadening the commercial partnership between the two companies and their respective countries while providing passengers with more travel options. Gulf Air and Turkish Airlines has one daily flight each between Bahrain and Istanbul.

Turkish Airlines has launched new flights from various cities in the Middle East and Germany to key tourist destinations in Turkey. The national carrier will launch direct flights between Turkish cities such as Bodrum, Antalya and Trabzon and the Middle East, beginning from this month. The airlines will be providing a total of 16 weekly flights between Jeddah, Kuwait, Riyadh, Al Qassim, Yanbu, Medina and Trabzon. Furthermore, they will also be providing 13 weekly flights between Jeddah, Baghdad, Erbil, Riyadh, Amman, Kuwait, Sulaymaniyah and Antalya during this summer. Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Stuttgart are other cities benefitting from the new direct flights, connecting travellers from Germany to Izmir. Additionally, passengers from Kuwait will also be able to travel directly to Izmir. Commenting on these direct flights, Turkish Airlines’ Deputy Chairman and CEO, Bilal Ekşi, said, “We are always looking to provide our passengers with the most convenient and time-efficient way of travel. Tourists worldwide have been continously increasing due to the fantastic attractions and features provided by all our Turkish cities. As we move forward, our goal will be to create these direct flights from all the markets, we operate globally so that travellers can now fly directly to their destination of choice.”  

Air Namibia (SW) and Turkish Airlines (TK) have signed a code-share agreement. Effective from March 1, the agreement will cover routes between Turkey and Namibia, and set to expand further travel opportunities for the passengers of the two airlines. The signing ceremony took place at Turkish Airlines’ Headquarters in İstanbul. Namibia Deputy Minister of Works & Transport Sankwasa James Sankwasa and Turkish Airlines Deputy Chairman and CEO, Bilal Ekşi signed the deal in the presence of senior officials from both sides. This new code-share agreement is bound to broaden the commercial partnership between two companies and their respective countries. At the same time, passengers of both airlines will be given more travel options between Namibia and Turkey. Under the terms of the agreement, Air Namibia and Turkish Airlines are planning to place codes on unilateral flights of SW on Windhoek – Johannesburg v.v. / Windhoek – Frankfurt v.v., and unilateral flights of TK on İstanbul – Johannesburg v.v. / İstanbul – Frankfurt v.v. Also it has been considered that, when SW introduces the Windhoek – İstanbul v.v. flights in future, this code-share agreement will be expanded by placing the code to include beyond İstanbul flights. Sankwasa expressed his satisfaction with this commercial partnership with a well-established and rapidly growing carrier like Turkish Airlines, which enjoys a broad route network. He also expressed that they are happy to conduct this code-share agreement with Turkish Airlines and also added that the deal will be a crucial experience for them. Sankwasa further stated that he is confident about this cooperation which will be fruitful for both sides and will be enlarged very soon. Sankwasa further stated “Air Namibia is a small airline and …