Turkish airlines eye control of Nigeria’s international aviation space

L-R: Press Relations Specialist, Turkish Airlines, Ms. Seda Dincer; Vice President, Sub-Saharan Africa, Turkish Airlines, Mr. Said Samil Karakas; and Marketing and Sales Specialist, Turkish Airlines, Mr. Yasin Battal, at a News Conference on Aviation Industry and Development of Turkish Airlines, in Istanbul Turkey…….recently

Turkish Airlines, one of the foremost global airlines has assured it will latch on the re-energized diplomatic relations between Nigeria and Turkey to grow flight connectivity between both countries and enhance their economic growth.

The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently paid a courtesy visit to Nigeria, moves that diplomatic analysts say had reset relationship between both countries and enlarged their business frontiers

The Vice President, Sales (Sub Saharan Africa), of Turkish Airlines, Dr Said Samil Karakas while interacting with some select Nigerian journalists in Istanbul, Turkey,recently, disclosed that Nigeria falls within the anticipated global expansion vision of the airline, in view of the enormous potentials that the country portends for global aviation business.

Karakas said that Turkish airlines has been rated as the 7^th largest carrier in the world in terms of international passenger number, by operating in 113 countries, while it also plies 287 destinations in the world, a feat that has positioned it as the most preferred airline globally.

The Airline boss said that although the operations of some international airlines predated Turkish airlines in Nigeria, its unique selling propositions, among them, the geographical advantage of Istanbul as the hub of the airline and the 5^th most connected city in the world, coupled with the company’s quality aircrafts, connectivity and efficient customer relations had made the airline a preferred choice for travelers.

Specifically, Karakas said that Turkish Airlines has commenced daily flights from Lagos to Istanbul and would soon open up same daily operations to the city from Port Harcourt, in addition to the existing Abuja and Kano direct flights to Istanbul.

Positing on the expansion vision of Turkish Airlines, Karakas said it was one of the linchpin for the commencement of the 3^rd Istanbul International Airport which when completed would occupy 76.5km2 Area; 396 aircraft park positions; 6 runways and four terminals with the advantage of 150 million passengers capacity.

Similarly, Karakas said the Airline has planned 5 destinations in Africa, namely Dakar, Luanda, Kilimanjaro,  Aswan, Juba in addition to the 44 current destinations in the continent.

Turkey Airlines has won several quality awards, notably: Europe’s’ Best Airlines Awards for five consecutive times by Skytrax, Best Business Class Catering Awards 2015; Best Corporate Governance Award in Europe 2015 and Best European Cargo Airline Award, among others.