“We are Turkish Airlines,
We are Globally Yours”
Skytrax rating: 4 stars
Star Alliance member
Operations
- Globally (based in Turkey)
- More than 200 destinations
- Numerous code-share agreements
South Africa
- Flights from Cape Town via Johannesburg
General
Turkish Airlines is the national flag carrier of Turkey. The airline was established in 1933 and therefore has a long history of providing a commercial aviation service. Turkish Airlines has always been a nationalized concern but in recent times the government shareholding has been reduced to about 49%, with about 51% publicly traded on the national stock exchange. In recent times Turkish Airlines has been operating a substantial loss but this has been attributed to the fleet acquisition program, which is one of the largest aircraft procurement projects in the world.
Turkish Airlines plane in standard livery. Turkish Airlines sometimes decorates a plane in a design to indicate its prestigious passengers, such as Spanish soccer club Barcelona.
Through its network of Star Alliance partners and other code-share affiliates, Turkish Airlines services a large number of international destinations, in addition to covering about 40 domestic airports. This is done with a fleet of about 200 aircraft, both wide-bodied and narrow-bodied. The fleet consists entirely of Airbus and Boeing aircraft. Turkish Airlines recently entered into a large-scale fleet expansion program which will give it one of the newest fleets in Europe, although the airline is not buying any of the super-sized passenger jets (the Airbus A380 or the Boeing 787). This expansion program started out as a multi-billion dollar acquisition tender some years ago and remains ongoing, with orders placed as recently as 2011.
As a Skytrax 4-star airline, you may expect an above-average level of service on a Turkish Airlines flight. There are four classes:
- First class
- Business class
- Comfort class (premium economy class)
- Economy class
Turkish Airlines recently won an award for the best Premium Economy class with its Comfort Class offering, which is a notable prestige in the airline industry because the premium economy concept (which has better comfort than economy class but at a lower price than business class) is seen as an important innovation, especially in a time of global recession in which fewer people are flying in the upper classes. The frequent flyer program is called Miles&Smiles.
Turkish Airlines has experienced a number of accidents during its long (78 year) operating history, among them three in the last twelve years. However, these should be seen in the context of the airline’s very good reputation in Europe. The European Union blacklists and bans airlines with poor safety standards, and Turkish Airlines services many destinations internationally, including South Africa. Also, an airline that operates as many planes as Turkish Airlines does may have relatively more incidents than a smaller fleet.
If you would like to experience flying with Turkish Airlines, please contact us so that we can assist you in arranging your travel package.
