spiritair97 From United States of America, joined Jan 2011, 1231 posts, RR: 1 Reply 1, posted (8 months 1 week 5 days 23 hours ago) and read 3365 times:
Very good news! TK has always struck me as a top-notch airline and this kinda proves it!
I guess the new flight to JFK is working them if numbers are up!
ju068 From Serbia, joined Aug 2009, 2579 posts, RR: 6 Reply 2, posted (8 months 1 week 5 days 22 hours ago) and read 3273 times:
Not long ago they reorganized their flights to the Balkans in order to facilitate connections to North America. Not to mention that, at least in Belgrade, they have had a very agressive marketing campaign. I guess all of that finally paid off.
PIEAvantiP180 From United States of America, joined Sep 2009, 469 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (8 months 1 week 5 days 22 hours ago) and read 3222 times:
But how much connecting traffic do you think they actually get to connect to the Americas. All the western hubs are more suitable for this purpose and I nor anyone else who regularly visits the ex YU states would ever consider going thru Istanbul just to get there. We both know why TK and JAT fly this route is the big o&d market that's there plus any connection they get is just gravy. Everybody knows if you want good quality and cheap clothes, jewelry, and gold you go to Turkey lol. My aunts in laws who all live in Novi Beograd make the trip at least once or twice a year.
Back to topic, glad to see TK doing great with their expansion. I just hope the new Istanbul airport gets built on time for them to continue since the current one is about to burst at the seems.
Well, Belgrade-Istanbul is just over an hour so one doesn't really have to backtrack. Plus, Turkish Airlines usually charges the same Lufthansa or Air France do, but still offers a far superior product. The fact that they still promote it means that they have captured a share of the market. TK's brand is very well known in Serbia and I guess that is what helped them.
But regardless of all this, TK's main aim in Belgrade is the market from Serbia->Middle East/South Africa/Asia.
Also I think we are overestimating the market between Belgrade and Istanbul. OK, there is a market in summer but during winter time not so much.
On a totally unrelated note, how much longer can Turkish Airlines expand in Istanbul before the airports becomes a Heathrow?
lewis From Greece, joined Jul 1999, 3448 posts, RR: 5 Reply 6, posted (8 months 1 week 5 days 3 hours ago) and read 2442 times:
Quoting PIEAvantiP180 (Reply 4): But how much connecting traffic do you think they actually get to connect to the Americas.
They do get connecting traffic since most (or all?) Balkan states have regional airlines at best. They lure passengers away from other European airlines with their fares, which are pretty good. Backtracking is not that bad, especially if the price is right. I almost booked TK this summer for LAX-IST-ATH but found a cheaper last-minute fare with BA.
thomasphoto60 From United States of America, joined Jan 2000, 3723 posts, RR: 25 Reply 7, posted (8 months 1 week 5 days 3 hours ago) and read 2412 times:
Looking forward to seeing TK here in Houston next year. It's been 15 years since I was last in Turkey, just might have to take advantage of this service next year.
ASA From Bangladesh, joined Dec 2010, 389 posts, RR: 2 Reply 10, posted (8 months 1 week 5 days ago) and read 2231 times:
Quoting ju068 (Reply 5): On a totally unrelated note, how much longer can Turkish Airlines expand in Istanbul before the airports becomes a Heathrow?
Very relevant question, actually ... totally related to the thread title. Unless Istanbul gets a new airport soon enough ... this growth trend can't sustain!
LAXintl From United States of America, joined exactly 13 years ago today! , 22061 posts, RR: 51 Reply 11, posted (8 months 1 week 4 days 22 hours ago) and read 2136 times:
Quoting KFlyer (Reply 9): Getting pax no.s up is easy. But what percentage of that is reflected in revenue? The latter is what is really important.
Revenues are keeping up quite well.
As recently announced for the first 6-months of 2012
EK413 From Australia, joined Nov 2003, 3916 posts, RR: 4 Reply 12, posted (8 months 1 week 4 days 20 hours ago) and read 2057 times:
Quoting ju068 (Reply 5): On a totally unrelated note, how much longer can Turkish Airlines expand in Istanbul before the airports becomes a Heathrow?
Quoting ASA (Reply 10): Very relevant question, actually ... totally related to the thread title. Unless Istanbul gets a new airport soon enough ... this growth trend can't sustain!
There are plans to build a NEW airport with capacity to handle 100million passengers & 5 runways... The location has been kept a secret...
ASA From Bangladesh, joined Dec 2010, 389 posts, RR: 2 Reply 13, posted (8 months 1 week 4 days 13 hours ago) and read 1779 times:
Quoting EK413 (Reply 12): There are plans to build a NEW airport with capacity to handle 100million passengers & 5 runways... The location has been kept a secret...
Thanks, EK413. Yes, patiently waiting for details on the new airport for a while now.
EK413 From Australia, joined Nov 2003, 3916 posts, RR: 4 Reply 15, posted (8 months 1 week 4 days 13 hours ago) and read 1649 times:
Quoting EK413 (Reply 12): Quoting ju068 (Reply 5):
On a totally unrelated note, how much longer can Turkish Airlines expand in Istanbul before the airports becomes a Heathrow?
Quoting ASA (Reply 10):
Very relevant question, actually ... totally related to the thread title. Unless Istanbul gets a new airport soon enough ... this growth trend can't sustain!
There are plans to build a NEW airport with capacity to handle 100million passengers & 5 runways... The location has been kept a secret...
Quoting BasilFawlty (Reply 14):
They will hurt themself eventually, IST is getting more and more clogged up every day and nobody is working on a solution for that major problem.
'Every year donkeys and mules kill more people than plane crashes'
Umm they are looking at resolving the problem by building a NEW airport or did you skip my previous post?
Polot From United States of America, joined Jul 2011, 1500 posts, RR: 0 Reply 16, posted (8 months 1 week 4 days 12 hours ago) and read 1630 times:
Quoting EK413 (Reply 15): Umm they are looking at resolving the problem by building a NEW airport or did you skip my previous post?
Yes, but when are they actually going to start building this new airport and when will it be fully operational? They haven't even decided who is going to build it yet (I'm not even sure that they have sent out the tenders yet-the newest article I can find says that they intended to do so by the end of last month, but I can't find anymore new info). Until then it is just all talk while the IST passengers suffer.
yegbey01 From United States of America, joined Nov 2003, 1679 posts, RR: 3 Reply 18, posted (8 months 1 week 4 days 11 hours ago) and read 1519 times:
Well, that doesn't surprise me one bit. TK has been capitalizing on the poor service that major Western European carriers offer. And they are serving many destinations that are overlooked by the major carriers.
That in addition to the lack of major service into North America from most Eastern Europe makes TK another alternative - but with a far superior service. It also helps when TK doesn't charge extra for stopovers.
I had the pleasure of flying TK last summer. Great service and competitive fares.
tk1244 From Netherlands, joined May 2007, 311 posts, RR: 0 Reply 20, posted (8 months 1 week 2 days 18 hours ago) and read 764 times:
Quoting BasilFawlty (Reply 19): The story of a new airport has been going for many years now and so far nothing happened
Planning an airport isn't the same as planning to order a new aircraft of launch a new destination... To come up with a good airport, you need to plan everything carefully and look many many years ahead. You should contact Prof. Ing. Antonín Kazda, who knows a lot about this subject
"The future is in the skies. For any nation that cannot defend its skies will never be confident of its future." Atatürk
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