Turkish Airlines Copyright © 1996 - 2013
Message From the Chairman - 2008
Message from the Board of Directors Chairman
Our family continues to grow with the successes of each passing year
We at Turkish Airlines take great pride in being a company that has doubled its number of passengers and tripled its revenues over the past 5 years. Our pursuit of constant improvement and transformation has strengthened our position in both the Turkish and global markets in 2008, and we remain Europe’s fastest growing airline.
While member companies of the European Airlines Association decreased by an average of 1.7% last year, Turkish Airlines grew by 15.1%, despite the pressures of rising fuel prices on the aviation sector. Our recent tender announcement for the purchase of 105 aircraft, with an option for 30 more, is a clear statement of our commitment to achieving our growth targets, even under the current difficult economic conditions.
In 2008, our fleet of 127 aircraft and 11,520 personnel flew over 22.5 million passengers at a high level of safety and comfort. At the same time, we continued to have a strong impact on our country’s economy and external trade flows through the movement of goods – both on our cargo planes and in the cargo holds of our passenger planes – along broad cargo network extending from the Far East to America and from Europe to the Middle East and Africa.
The addition of a third A310 aircraft to our fleet in April of 2008 significantly increased the capacity of our cargo division, which is able to handle chartered cargo requests in addition to scheduled cargo flights. Our cargo transport revenues increased by 21.2%, a testament to the high level of customer satisfaction that our service generates in a heavily competitive environment. Through the addition of a fourth A310-300 aircraft to the fleet, we have now added Madrid, Moscow, Amman, and Cairo to our cargo network as well as increased flight frequencies to existing destinations, thus allowing us to respond to all export and import transport demands.
The launching of AnadoluJet in 2008 was another important step forward, both for our company and our country. Flying under the full trust of the Turkish Airlines brandname, AnadoluJet has transformed Ankara into a flight hub, through which the public can now fly at cut-rate prices on a network of domestic routes as well as a new international connection between Hatay and Ercan (Lefkosa).
While expanding our flight network across Anatolia with AnadoluJet and Sun Express, we are also broadening our global network through our membership in the Star Alliance and via our affiliations with Air Bosna and Sun Express. Following our entry into the Star Alliance as a full member on April 1, 2008, our passengers now enjoy a wide range of new travel possibilities. Travel is now possible to nearly every destination in the world on a single ticket, thanks to a network that that features over 16,500 flights each day to 912 destinations in 159 countries. Passengers who are members of the frequent flier programs of member airlines now also have a much broader range of options on which to use the miles they earn, thus expanding the global reach of Turkish Airlines’ safe and high-quality flight services.
We place the highest priority on flight safety, which we regard as the single most important element of aviation. Our work in this area is conducted with utmost care and rigor, and we continue to pass successive international examinations successfully. Our Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) operating certificate, the first and foremost standard of flight safety management in the world and developed under the direction of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), has been renewed to October 2009. The IOSA operating certificate serves as a reference for all national and international aviation authorities on flight safety, and it is also a condition for membership in the Star Alliance, in which we enjoy full membership.
THY A.O Chairman of the Board
Dr. Candan Karlıtekin
We at Turkish Airlines take great pride in being a company that has doubled its number of passengers and tripled its revenues over the past 5 years. Our pursuit of constant improvement and transformation has strengthened our position in both the Turkish and global markets in 2008, and we remain Europe’s fastest growing airline.
While member companies of the European Airlines Association decreased by an average of 1.7% last year, Turkish Airlines grew by 15.1%, despite the pressures of rising fuel prices on the aviation sector. Our recent tender announcement for the purchase of 105 aircraft, with an option for 30 more, is a clear statement of our commitment to achieving our growth targets, even under the current difficult economic conditions.
In 2008, our fleet of 127 aircraft and 11,520 personnel flew over 22.5 million passengers at a high level of safety and comfort. At the same time, we continued to have a strong impact on our country’s economy and external trade flows through the movement of goods – both on our cargo planes and in the cargo holds of our passenger planes – along broad cargo network extending from the Far East to America and from Europe to the Middle East and Africa.
The addition of a third A310 aircraft to our fleet in April of 2008 significantly increased the capacity of our cargo division, which is able to handle chartered cargo requests in addition to scheduled cargo flights. Our cargo transport revenues increased by 21.2%, a testament to the high level of customer satisfaction that our service generates in a heavily competitive environment. Through the addition of a fourth A310-300 aircraft to the fleet, we have now added Madrid, Moscow, Amman, and Cairo to our cargo network as well as increased flight frequencies to existing destinations, thus allowing us to respond to all export and import transport demands.
The launching of AnadoluJet in 2008 was another important step forward, both for our company and our country. Flying under the full trust of the Turkish Airlines brandname, AnadoluJet has transformed Ankara into a flight hub, through which the public can now fly at cut-rate prices on a network of domestic routes as well as a new international connection between Hatay and Ercan (Lefkosa).
While expanding our flight network across Anatolia with AnadoluJet and Sun Express, we are also broadening our global network through our membership in the Star Alliance and via our affiliations with Air Bosna and Sun Express. Following our entry into the Star Alliance as a full member on April 1, 2008, our passengers now enjoy a wide range of new travel possibilities. Travel is now possible to nearly every destination in the world on a single ticket, thanks to a network that that features over 16,500 flights each day to 912 destinations in 159 countries. Passengers who are members of the frequent flier programs of member airlines now also have a much broader range of options on which to use the miles they earn, thus expanding the global reach of Turkish Airlines’ safe and high-quality flight services.
We place the highest priority on flight safety, which we regard as the single most important element of aviation. Our work in this area is conducted with utmost care and rigor, and we continue to pass successive international examinations successfully. Our Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) operating certificate, the first and foremost standard of flight safety management in the world and developed under the direction of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), has been renewed to October 2009. The IOSA operating certificate serves as a reference for all national and international aviation authorities on flight safety, and it is also a condition for membership in the Star Alliance, in which we enjoy full membership.
THY A.O Chairman of the Board
Dr. Candan Karlıtekin
