Turkish Airlines

Infobox Airline
airline = Turkish Airlines
Türk Hava Yolları


image_size =
IATA = TK
ICAO = THY
callsign = TURKISH
founded = 1933
ceased =
hubs = Atatürk Int'l Airport
secondary_hubs = Esenboga International Airport Sabiha Gökçen International Airport
frequent_flyer = Miles & Smiles
lounge =
alliance = Star Alliance
subsidiaries = Anadolujet, SunExpress
fleet_size = 116
destinations = 140 (32 dom + 108 intl)
parent =
company_slogan =
headquarters = İstanbul, Turkey
key_people = Candan Karlıtekin (Chairman), Temel Kotil (CEO)
website = http://www.thy.com/

Turkish Airlines, Inc. (Turkish "Türk Hava Yolları Anonim Ortaklığı") (THY) is the national airline of Turkey based in İstanbul. It operates a network of scheduled services to 123 international and 32 domestic cities, serving a total of 155 airports, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the United States. The airline's main base is Atatürk International Airport (IST), İstanbul, with secondary hubs at Esenboga International Airport (ESB), Ankara, and Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (SAW), İstanbul. In 2006 and 2007 it carried 17 million and 19.7 million passengers with total revenues of US$2.3 and US$3 billion, respectively. [ [http://www.atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=6958 ATW Daily News] ] The airline has around 12,000 employees. As of April 1, 2008, THY is an official member of Star Alliance.

History

The airline was established on May 20, 1933, as the State Airlines Administrationndash "Devlet Hava Yolları İşletmesi İdaresi" (DHY). It began operations with an İstanbul, Eskişehir, Ankara service in August 1933. In September 1937, the airline received three De Havilland D.H. 86B biplane airliners.

The following December, DHY received the fourth plane. These planes enlarged the domestic routes of DHY to the destination of İstanbul, Eskisehir, Izmir, Ankara, Adana, Kayseri and Diyarbakır. [Commercial Aircraft and Airline Markings edited by Christopher Chant] The name was changed to "Devlet Hava Yolları Umum Müdürlüğü" (DHY) in June 1938. The first international flight was launched in 1947 to Athens but it was another 40 years before the introduction of long-haul flights to the Far East and across the Atlantic.

In a major reorganisation, the state company DHY was replaced with a mixed corporation, Türk Hava Yolları AO (THY) on 20 February 1956. The airline's shares were passed to the Prime Ministry Public Participation Administration in 1990, which took the company public in December 1990 selling 5% of the shares. The government later sold about 23.0% of the shares to the public in December 2004 and a further 28.75% in May 2006.

The airline is owned by TC Privatisation Administration (49%) and private shareholders (51%). It also has a 50% holding in affiliated airline SunExpress, the other half of which owned by Lufthansa of Germany. It has set up in September 2006 an airline catering JV with Do&Co Restaurants & Catering of Austria. Turkish Airlines quit the Qualiflyer group in 1999, due to incompatibilities with Swissair and Delta.

A request to join the Star Alliance has been accepted in December 2006. On April 1, 2008, Turkish Airlines joined the Alliance as a full member.

Destinations

Codeshare agreements

Turkish Airlines have codeshare agreements with the following carriers:
*Air China (SA)
*Air India
*Air Malta
*All Nippon Airways (SA)
*Asiana Airlines (SA)
*Austrian Airlines (SA)
*Croatia Airlines (SA)
*Egypt Air (SA)
*LOT Polish Airlines (SA)
*Lufthansa (SA)
*Pakistan International Airlines
*Royal Air Maroc
*SunExpress
*Syrian Arab AirlinesNote: This list includes Star Alliance (SA) partners. Turkish Airlines joined the Star Alliance on 1 April 2008.

Fleet

The Turkish Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft as of September 2008:

* Turkish Airlines may be considering buying the new Airbus A350 and also the Boeing 787.
* The average age of the Turkish fleet is 7.1 years
* The airline has ordered 59 planes (Boeing and Airbus) in 2004 which will be delivered gradually until 2008.
* The airline converted 3 of it's former passenger aircraft, A310-300s, into cargo planes and is considering obtaining a 747 cargo aircraft.
* At the end of May, Turkish Airlines will receive an A340-300 from Air Jamaica by leasing
* [http://www.thy.com/en-INT/corporate/about_us/fleet/index.aspx Total fleet] as of September 2008 is 116 aircraft.

Affinity programs

Miles & Smiles is the frequent flyer program of Turkish Airlines, started after the airline left Qualiflyer. The earned miles can be used in Turkish Airlines' flights, as well as flights on Lufthansa, including the entire Star Alliance.

Livery

Turkish Airlines' livery is white fuselage with blue lettering and a red tail with white circle with the company logo. Also, Turkish Airlines has added tulip figures on its aircraft, starting from the front part till the tail.

New logo

A modified logo has recently been introduced. There are few changes. The most predominant of the changes is the logo's switch from a red emblem on a white background to a white emblem on a red background.

Maintenance center

Turkish Airlines has a maintenance centre at its hub Atatürk International Airport, (IST) in Istanbul. Turkish Airlines Maintenance Center (THY Technic) is responsible for the maintenance, repair and overhaul of THY's all aircraft, engines, APUs and components.

Incidents and accidents

During its 75 year history, Turkish Airlines has had three accidents on its international flights, and 18 on domestic flights.

The airline's first accident occurred on February 17, 1959, when a Vickers Viscount Type 793, registration TC-SEV, crashed in heavy fog just before landing at London Gatwick Airport. The flight was carrying Turkish Prime Minister Adnan Menderes and a governmental delegation to London for signing the London Agreements on the Cyprus issue. Menderes was among the ten survivors of 8 crew and 16 passengers on board.

The deadliest was Turkish Airlines Flight 981, which crashed in France on 3 March 1974 due to explosive decompression, killing all 346 people aboard. The main cause was a design fault on the cargo doors of DC-10 aircraft. Prior to the Tenerife disaster, it was the deadliest aircraft disaster.

ee also

* Anadolujet, regional low-cost carrier of Turkish Airlines.
* SunExpress, a joint venture of Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa based in Antalya.

References

* [http://www.baaa-acro.com/Compagnies%20T/Turkish%20Airlines.htm Accident report on Turkish Airlines]

External links

* [http://www.turkishairlines.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.anadolujet.com/ Anadolujet (Regional Low-Cost Carrier of THY]
* [http://www.sunexpress.de/ SunExpress]
* [http://www.air-valid.com/turkish-airlines/avis-opinions.html 288 Opinions on Turkish Airlines]

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