Tag Archives: Turkish Airlines

With the launch of the fifth ACE of MICE exhibition by Turkish Airlines in Turkey, the third largest congress, meeting and events exhibition in the world from February 21-23, 2018, Istanbul will once again become the focus of the international MICE industry. The event will be held at Istanbul Congress Center with the motto of previous year ‘MICE industry convenes with all of its colours!’ Held every year by the Tourism Media Group organisation, the exhibition will see 746 hosted buyers from 39 countries flock to the city. Over 9,791 business to business (B2B) meetings have been arranged, along with 220 national and international exhibitors, 19 sessions, 35 speakers, 160 sponsors at the event. Over 15,000 domestic and foreign visitors are expected to witness the event. According to the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Turkey is among the top ten of the world’s meeting destinations. The country ranks 18th globally as a growing destination for MICE tourism. Turkey is exceptionally well positioned as a destination for the MICE industry, both in terms of trade and culture.

Turkish Airlines introduced a new programme ‘Istanbul Bosphorus Experience’, especially designed for its Business Class passengers who have a transfer time of seven or more hours in Istanbul. The aim was to enable its transfer passengers to closely experience the beauty of Istanbul and the Bosphorus, before continuing their trip to their target destination. “We always strive to offer our passengers the best flight experience possible – on board and on the ground. With the addition of the Istanbul Bosphorus Experience, we continue to improve our wide range of activities and services including our worldwide known ‘Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul’, which earned the top spot in the category ‘World’s Best Business Class Lounge’ within the Skytrax World Airline Awards 2017, or our innovative Miniport service, etc. Passengers can now discover and enjoy the cultural facets of Istanbul at first hand. Besides further diversifying our unmatched offerings to passengers with this service, we can also indirectly contribute to the Turkish tourism economy,” said Ahmet Olmuştur, Chief Marketing Officer, Turkish Airlines.

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.

The Turkish Airlines Corporate Club Conference, hosted by Turkish Airlines in partnership with the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), took place in Istanbul from September 25-26 at the Hilton Istanbul Bomonti Hotel. The event welcomed over 500 international guests to network and enjoy true Turkish hospitality while learning about the latest offerings and key benefits of the Turkish Airlines Corporate Club. The conference presented global trends in the business travel segment, as well as highlighted the latest developments in the aviation industry. This year the theme was ‘Traveler Centricity’. Hundreds of decision makers and key players from the global business travel community are in Istanbul for a line-up of distinguished speakers as well as to learn how Turkish Airlines Corporate Club can add more value to their business. Attendees were welcomed by Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee of Turkish Airlines, M. İlker Aycı and keynote speaker Ron Kaufman who kicked off the one-day event. Panel speakers included Arda Ermut, President of the Investment Support and Promotion Agency, Serra Akçaoğlu, CEO and Board Member of Citibank Turkey and Tankut Turnaoğlu, Vice President & General Manager of P&G Turkey & Caucasus. Commenting on the conference, Chairman of the Board and Executive Committee of Turkish Airlines, M. İlker Aycı said, “We are thrilled to welcome hundreds of high-ranking professionals and business travel leaders from all over the world to Istanbul for this unique event. Turkish Airlines Corporate Club Conference provides a great opportunity to learn the numerous advantages our renewed corporate travel program that offers to its members the latest trends in the business travel industry.”

The airline with the largest network in the world, Turkish Airlines, has recently collaborated with Dr Mehmet Oz, the producer and host of ‘The Dr. Oz Show’, on its ‘Fly Good Feel Good’ project, to provide not only a comfortable but also a healthy travel experience to its passengers. Dr Oz would give advice to the passengers on healthy eating habits and exercises, through short videos that would be available on the Turkish Airlines official website, social media and in-flight entertainment systems. His advice will also be printed in newspapers to extend its reach to maximum number of people. “Making our passengers’ flight experience more comfortable and enjoyable by continuously improving our brand experience is one of our top priorities,” said M. Ilker Ayci, Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee of Turkish Airlines. How a person feels is just as important for us as our award-winning service quality.”

Turkish Airlines added Phuket as the 300th destination in their global network. The inaugural flight from Istanbul was welcomed by the customary water cannon salute in a formal ceremony at Phuket International Airport. Deputy Chairman and CEO of Turkish Airlines, Bilal Eksi, commented at the launch ceremony, “Turkish Airlines is excited to be bringing more value and connectivity to its passengers through its ever expanding network. As an award-winning airline that invites people to explore the beauties of our world, it was a natural choice for us to decide on Phuket as our next destination.” Introductory round trip fares for the Istanbul to Phuket flight, which has been launched on July 17, 2017, starts from $569 (including taxes and fees).  Direct flights from Istanbul to Phuket will be operated four times a week, on Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. With Turkish Airlines launching flights to Phuket, Turkish Cargo has also launched freighter flights to the island.

Etihad Airways, Emirates Airline, Turkish Airlines and Qatar Airways have all been cleared to allow customers to bring electronic devices, including laptops, tablets and e-readers, on flights from the Middle East into the United States. The ban on electronic devices that was implemented on ME flights travelling to the United States since March 25, 2017 ended on July 5, 2017.

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.”  

Turkish Airlines added another feather to its global offerings through its new agreement with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The airlines now provides enhanced security screening programme for the transit passengers departing from the United States, with smarter overall security and a better air travel experience. Members of a Department of Homeland Security trusted traveler program may now have the privilege of TSA-expedited screening at airport security checkpoints in the United States. They may keep light jackets, shoes and belts on, although laptops and 3-1-1-compliant liquids remain in carryon bags. Children aged 12 years or less, accompanying a parent or guardian with TSA, also receive expedited screening. In April 2017, 97% of TSA Pre passengers waited for less than 5 minutes. TSA screening is available to the members of Global Entry and the TSA Precheck Application Program. TSA screening is also available to U.S. citizens and U.S. lawful permanent residents enrolled in NEXUS or SENTRI and to Canadian citizens enrolled in NEXUS. To experience the privileges of TSA, members enrolled in a trusted traveler program must add their Known Traveler Number when making reservations with Turkish Airlines, at one of their kiosks or check-in counters. When a member then checks in, a TSA indicator will appear on their boarding pass, which saves them from lengthy security checks.

Turkish Airlines launched new flights from various cities in the Middle East to key tourist destinations in Turkey. The new direct flights will be launched from the cities of Saudi Arabia including Jeddah now with connecting flights to Ankara and Trabzon; Riyadh with flights to Antalya and Trabzon; and from Medina to Ankara. Additional connecting flights include the cities of Dammam, Yanbu, and Al Qassim all travelling to Trabzon. Kuwait City is another city benefitting from the new flights and now connecting travellers from the country to Trabzon, Izmir, Antalya and Bodrum. Additionally passengers from the cities of Erbil, Baghdad and Sulaymaniyah in Iraq and Amman, Jordan will also be able to travel directly to their preferred destination in Turkey. Residents from Erbil will be connected to Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, and Antalya, whereas travellers from Baghdad, Sulaymaniyah and Amman will be provided flights with a direct connection to Antalya. Bilal Ekşi, Deputy Chairman and CEO, Turkish Airlines, said, “We are always looking to provide our passengers with the most convenient and time-efficient way of travel. Tourists worldwide have been continuously 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 which we operate in globally so that travellers can now fly directly to their destination of choice.”