Turkish Airlines Jan passenger numbers up 21.9 pct

Turkey's flag-carrier Turkish Airlines' said on Monday that passenger numbers in January rose 21.9 percent to 2.6 million from 2.1 million a year ago.

Load factor in the same period was 72.1 percent, up 4.9 percentage points from January 2011, Turkish Airlines said in a statement to the Istanbul Stock Exchange.

Shares in Turkish Airlines were up 3.41 percent to 2.73 lira, outperforming the Istanbul bourse which traded 1.22 percent higher at 0927 GMT.

Turkish airlines to launch flights to Argentina

Turkish Airlines (THY) will launch flights to Buenos Aires, Argentina in June, the director general said on Saturday.

Temel Kotil said THY would operate Sao Paulo-connected Istanbul-Buenos Aires flights in June.

"We plan to operate four flights a week first, and we can also carry passengers from Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires," Kotil told reporters after meeting Argentine Tourism Minister Carlos Enrique Meyer in Istanbul.

Meyer is visiting Istanbul for the 16th East Mediterranean International Travel and Tourism Exhibition (EMITT).

"We aim to operate flights to Bueno Aires every day if slot restrictions at the Sao Paulo airport are lifted," Kotil also said.

Meyer said 6 million Argentine people travelled abroad last year.

THY carried 32.6 million passengers in January-December, 2011. The number of THY passengers was up 12.1 percent from 29.1 million in January-December 2010 to 32.6 million in January-December 2011.

Turkish Airlines also increased the cargo it carried 23.7 percent from 313,517 tons to 387,703 tons in the mentioned period.

THY is the national flag carrier airline of Turkey, headquartered in Istanbul. It operates scheduled services to 146 international and 41 domestic cities (38 domestic airports), serving a total of 187 airports, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

Turkish Airlines introduces three new flights to Manchester and Istanbul

Turkish Airlines has announced it will be introducing three extra flights per week between Manchester and Istanbul. The airline said due to strong demand for its services, it was increasing its flights between the two cities starting from March 25, when it will increase to nine weekly flights and then 10 weekly services from May 28 for the rest of the summer schedule. The additional flights will operate on Monday, Friday and Sunday, using 737-800 aircraft. Andrew Harrison, Manchester Airports Group’s chief operating officer, said: “It’s great to see an airline making bigger commitments to the airport and the north west region, which proves the demand is there. “Increasing their services will give our passengers more choice to travel to not only Istanbul but to more than 100 onward destinations.”

TAM Airlines and Turkish Airlines sign codeshare agreement

São Paulo, Brazil - TAM Airlines and Turkish Airlines, both members of the Star Alliance, have entered into a codeshare agreement that once in operation will increase the destinations on offer for their respective clients who travel from or to South America and Europe. With the bilateral agreement, each of the airlines can sell seats on certain designated flights operated by the partnership.

Initially TAM customers can purchase tickets for Istanbul directly from TAM. Turkish Airline clients, on the other hand, will be able to book flights operated by TAM to Brazilian destinations such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Porto Alegre and Foz do Iguaçu; and also to Buenos Aires in Argentina.

The destinations will be available for booking and purchase on the companies’ respective websites following the final approval of the aviation authorities in Brazil and Turkey. Currently, TAM’s own network offers 43 destinations in Brazil and 19 in Latin America, Europe and the United States – in addition the airline offers a further 92 international destinations through codeshare agreements.

When the codeshare agreement goes into effect, the partnership will allow TAM customers to travel directly between São Paulo and Istanbul on a flight operated by Turkish Airlines. In addition, it will also be possible to travel to-and-from Istanbul and São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, via London. Another option will be the route between São Paulo and Istanbul, via Madrid.

Turkish Airlines, Thai Airways sign codeshare agreement

Under the deal, both airline companies will be able to sell tickets for their flights without having a seat limit.

Turkish Airlines (THY) and Thai Airways signed a codeshare agreement on Monday.

Under the deal, both airline companies will be able to sell tickets for their flights without having a seat limit.

Also, THY will make sale under the code "TK" for the flights to Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne, Sidney, Auckland and Kuala Lumpur.

A codeshare agreement is an aviation business arrangement where two or more airlines share the same flight. A seat can be purchased on one airline but is actually operated by a cooperating airline under a different flight number or code. The term "code" refers to the identifier used in flight schedule, generally the two-character IATA airline designator code and flight number.

Turkish Airlines is the national flag carrier airline of Turkey, headquartered in Istanbul. It operates scheduled services to 146 international and 41 domestic cities (38 domestic airports), serving a total of 187 airports, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

It carried 30 million passengers in the first 11 months of 2011.

Turkish Airlines adds third Libyan destination

Turkish Airlines is seizing the opportunity to establish a major presence in the Libyan market with the launch of a new route from Istanbul Atatürk (IST) to Misrata (MRA), the third largest city in the country after Tripoli and Benghazi, both of which are already served by the airline. Initially, there will be four flights per week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) using 737-800s, but this will increase to daily from 5 January. This is believed to be the first international scheduled service at the airport to be operated by a non-Libyan airline. According to anna.aero’s database, this is Turkish Airlines’ 20th new route from Istanbul’s main airport this year, with at least one more (to London Gatwick) due to start before the end of the year.