TK787 From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 4104 posts, RR: 13 Reply 5, posted (3 months 2 weeks 4 days 9 hours ago) and read 9729 times:
Quoting TK787 (Thread starter): -News of 5 options on 333s turning into orders
So, as per TK page;
2 x firm 333s in 2014, and 3 more options to be delivered 2015-2016.
So this means, 2 x 333s this year and 6 x 333s in 2014 for sure.
boun From Turkey, joined Nov 2012, 15 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 12 hours ago) and read 9038 times:
I had to got to Samsun for business the other day, flew SZF-ESB-IST last night. The first leg, operated by Anadolu Jet, was spectacular in terms of cabin crew. The crew was wonderful, all of them were smiling and were extremely kind during the 40 min flight. One of the attendants constantly threw jokes all over the place. This is only one example to draw a conclusion but maybe the crews are starting to break the "cold, unsmiling, unkind" image that they've created over the years.
ESB-IST was the last flight of the day. This time the crew were average. Still, better than many times before. The only bad side of the journey was the congestion in IST. Our trip was one and a half hour long, which is way longer than last time I took the same flight (45 mins?) We had to circle many times during our approach.
One thing that caught my attention was the welcome announcement. As you know it has been executed by the cockpit crew for some time. They now include "children" in their announcements, which is very sweet I think. Overall, kudos to TK this time. I was very satisfied.
OA260 From Ireland, joined Nov 2006, 24891 posts, RR: 60 Reply 10, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 8987 times:
Quoting TK787 (Thread starter): I see a light at the end of the tunnel and it is called Spring
Not here in Ireland sadly
Thanks for a new thread. TK have a dedicated FB page for Ireland now and at the recent holiday show they teamed up with a local radio station to broadcast live. TK also qualified for a rebate from the Dublin Airport due to a scheme in place where airlines that grow their business get rewarded for it. A big advertising campaign is also on with full branding of the Airport express buses.
With fares from EUR179 its often cheaper to get to IST than to the UK ! With the increase of flights from DUB lets hope its a good 2013 for TK here.
OLYMPIC AIR - ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΗ "Η ΕΛΛΑΔΑ ΨΗΛΑ" "GREECE FLYING HIGH"
umit From Turkey, joined May 2009, 120 posts, RR: 3 Reply 12, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days ago) and read 8821 times:
For the winter break of my doughter , i used my hard earned miles to take her to london on j class.now i am at the airport for tk1985 and plane switched from 330-300 to 738 .. Lets see if they are going to make another last minute change
OA260 From Ireland, joined Nov 2006, 24891 posts, RR: 60 Reply 13, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days ago) and read 8800 times:
Quoting umit (Reply 12): i used my hard earned miles to take her to london on j class.now i am at the airport for tk1985 and plane switched from 330-300 to 738 .. Lets see if they are going to make another last minute change
I can understand how dissapointing that would be especially in terms of seat product but that has always been an issue on the route.
OLYMPIC AIR - ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΗ "Η ΕΛΛΑΔΑ ΨΗΛΑ" "GREECE FLYING HIGH"
TK787 From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 4104 posts, RR: 13 Reply 15, posted (3 months 2 weeks 1 day 19 hours ago) and read 8660 times:
Quoting umit (Reply 12): tk1985 and plane switched from 330-300 to 738 .
That is just terrible, especially you wanted to make this a special trip.
Personally this only happened to me once in the US. I had a first class ticket on a 757 with DL and after boarding the plane they had a technical problem and we had to wait for another 757, which came with a different seat config, with less F seats. I don't know how it happened but I was assigned a F seat. But not all original F pax got F seats.
I would be bummed.
I would be so upset over this, since the product difference is day and night. I am all for TK utilizing its fleet to the max, but I also think certain routes you don't wat to mess with, especially if you have your eyes set on top level in everything. LHR route certainly would be one of those routes.
leftyboarder From Turkey, joined Apr 2008, 647 posts, RR: 1 Reply 17, posted (3 months 2 weeks 1 day 18 hours ago) and read 8625 times:
Quoting TK787 (Reply 15): IIRC, AF tried this route and couldn't make it work last year and closed it. TK never served it??? Anyone else nonstop on this route?
Thanks.
AFAIK TK never served this route. I expect it to be wildly popular with rich Arabs, a la NCE. PC serves SAW-MRS.
bahadir From United States of America, joined Oct 2001, 1727 posts, RR: 12 Reply 18, posted (3 months 2 weeks 1 day 18 hours ago) and read 8608 times:
Quoting boun (Reply 9):
I had to got to Samsun for business the other day, flew SZF-ESB-IST last night. The first leg, operated by Anadolu Jet,
I bet it was operated by SunExpress. Did you pay attention who the operator was?
Turkish Airlines is a mad house when it comes to the corporate backstabbing and taking themselves too serious.
SCQ83 From United States of America, joined Oct 2012, 459 posts, RR: 0 Reply 19, posted (3 months 2 weeks 1 day 18 hours ago) and read 8594 times:
Quoting leftyboarder (Reply 17): AFAIK TK never served this route. I expect it to be wildly popular with rich Arabs, a la NCE. PC serves SAW-MRS.
The kind of Arabs going to MRS and NCE are substantially different. NCE is the gateway to Monaco and Cote d'Azur, a must-do for any Gulf national (and in this case, TK/IST is a great connection point with the number of places they serve in the region).
MRS has a large community of Moroccans and Algerians who are not necessarily splurging, even if some people from the Gulf might end in St Cyr or Bandol... I guess the numbers are not really that significant. And I can't see how those heading to Algeria would connect in IST.
Though it doesn't mean that TK cannot make MRS work... since they serve so many other destinations in France and Europe, at the end of the day Marseille is France's 3rd or 4th largest city.
santos From United Kingdom, joined Dec 2007, 704 posts, RR: 0 Reply 20, posted (3 months 2 weeks 1 day 17 hours ago) and read 8549 times:
LIS-IST to go from daily to 10xWeekly from April, some flights will be operated by the A321 instead of the usual B737-800.
OPO-IST rumoured to start around easter 2014.
boun From Turkey, joined Nov 2012, 15 posts, RR: 0 Reply 23, posted (3 months 2 weeks 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 8508 times:
Quoting bahadir (Reply 18): I bet it was operated by SunExpress. Did you pay attention who the operator was?
Turkish Airlines is a mad house when it comes to the corporate backstabbing and taking themselves too serious.
The plane was TC-JKR, that's all I can say. It is still registered to Anadolu Jet , so no change in ownership and lease back ,maybe that can help.
Apart from that just got curious about the difference seatings in the 737 fleet. TC-JGZ operated my trip to Samsun and the seats were interesting. The color of the seats were navy blue (just like the old ones) but the seats themselves were like the turquoise-colored seats with headrests. So we have the old navy blue SICMA ones, newer turquoise ones, regular J seated ones plus others? Sorry if is complicated.
EADS : Turkish Airlines orders five additional A330 passenger aircraft
Turkish Airlines has signed a firm order for two additional A330-300 passenger aircraft and three options as part of the carrier's continued growth plans. The additional order for the A330 Family is taking their total firm order for the type to 38. Turkish Airlines placed their first order with Airbus in 1984, and today operate 104 Airbus in total.
TK787 From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 4104 posts, RR: 13 Reply 29, posted (3 months 2 weeks 1 day 12 hours ago) and read 8521 times:
Quoting SQ22 (Reply 26): Haven't read this here before:
Quoting TK787 (Reply 5): Quoting TK787 (Thread starter):
-News of 5 options on 333s turning into orders
So, as per TK page;
2 x firm 333s in 2014, and 3 more options to be delivered 2015-2016.
So this means, 2 x 333s this year and 6 x 333s in 2014 for sure.
I guess it is easy to get confused;
-Is this TK exercising options from the original 15 + 5 Options? Making it 17 + 3 options
or
- 15 + 5 Options and and additional 2 + 3 Options? Making it 17 + 8 Options
I think it is the first option; TK taking 2 of those original 5 options, and will confirm 3 more shortly for a total of 20 333s,
just like the 77Ws.
I looked up the schedule for Baku the other day and was quite amazed about the amount of flights between both cities:
from IST 4x TK and 2x J2, SAW has another 2x daily J2 (those two flights are btw codeshared by PC)
Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive A/C St Frequency | Dur'n | Dep T | Arr T | Effect | Ending | Exceptions
--------- ------ ---- -------- ---- -------- --- -- ----------------------------------------------------------------
TK 338 IST 01:15 GYD 05:55 738 0 1234567 02:40 I - 29 Oct 30 Mar
TK 332 IST 08:50 GYD 13:30 738 0 1234567 02:40 I - 29 Oct 30 Mar
J2 88 SAW 11:20 GYD 16:05 320 0 1234567 02:45 - - 10 Feb 28 Feb
J2 76 IST 12:20 GYD 17:00 767 0 1234567 02:40 I - 09 Feb 22 Mar
TK 334 IST 14:55 GYD 19:35 738 0 1234567 02:40 I - 08 Nov 30 Mar
J2 90 SAW 20:55 GYD 01:40 +1 320 0 1234567 02:45 - - 10 Feb 28 Feb
TK 336 IST 22:35 GYD 03:15 +1 738 0 1234567 02:40 I - 29 Jan 30 Mar
J2 78 IST 22:50 GYD 03:30 +1 767 0 1234567 02:40 I - 11 Feb 28 Feb
leftyboarder From Turkey, joined Apr 2008, 647 posts, RR: 1 Reply 34, posted (3 months 2 weeks 22 hours ago) and read 8302 times:
New year, but same old IST... January 2013 numbers for all airports released by DHMI on dhmi.gov.tr/istatistik and, no surprises - IST growing over 20% yet again. If it stays above 15%, we might see it overtake AMS and MAD this year to become 4th most used in Europe.
Here's a quick recap:
IST
Dom 1,232,754 up 13%
Int'l 2,337,828 up 26%
ESB
Dom 666,965 up 5%
Int'l 103,240 up 16%
ADB
Dom 576,283 up 10%
Int'l 72,107 down 9%
SAW
Dom 738,515 up 4%
Int'l 361,816 up 25%
AYT
Dom 363,241 flat
Int'l 229,945 down 8%
Total
Dom 5,181,175 up 7,8%
Int'l 3,199,596 up 20,9%
IST handles 73% of all int'l traffic (strong seasonality at AYT has to be taken into consideration), as opposed to 24% of all dom traffic.
Turkish350XWB From Switzerland, joined Jan 2009, 429 posts, RR: 0 Reply 35, posted (3 months 2 weeks 22 hours ago) and read 8308 times:
Quoting leftyboarder (Reply 34): New year, but same old IST... January 2013 numbers for all airports released by DHMI on dhmi.gov.tr/istatistik and, no surprises - IST growing over 20% yet again. If it stays above 15%, we might see it overtake AMS and MAD this year to become 4th most used in Europe.
IST overtaking MAD is almost for sure. For AMS it need to grow at least to 52 million pax which equals approx to 16 % growths in 2013.
The difference between Jan 12 and Jan 13 is 625.547, so Feb12-Jan13 pax numbers for IST is 44.998.508 + 625.547 = 45.624.055.
LLA001 From Turkey, joined May 2005, 33 posts, RR: 0 Reply 36, posted (3 months 2 weeks 21 hours ago) and read 8276 times:
This sunday my flight from ADA to SAW on Anadolu Jet was my 500th flight ( thanks to my father, my flights are logged since I was 3 months old). I am 33 and for some of you here 500 flights as a passenger is not much but for me to spend 55 days of my 33 years at air is a lot
of that 500 flights, 226 was with TK, 17 with Anadolu Jet, 17 with Pegasus, 2 with Istanbul Air, 2 with Maş Air and once with short lived VIP Air, so almost more than half of my flights, thanks a lot to Turkish aviaton for that
It is still a dream for me to read these growth numbers mentioned at Turkish aviation forums here. In my childhood there were only 20-25 jet airlines servicing the whole country where now it is almost 10-15 times more than that and it is still growing.
I am really hoping this growth could be sustained in the future. I still can not make the judgement if the growth of TK and Istanbul airport is a business success story or just an inflated baloon about to explode. Same goes for Pegasus which became a significant airline in a relatively short time and has a lot of potential to become really successful and has potential to be a failure at the same time.
So, are these days the Golden Age of Turkish Aviation where we will remember as the good old days, or are there even better times which is waiting for us?
Congrats on the 500th flight and lucky you that your father started the tradition.
Interesting times are still ahead I say; here is an optimistic picture.
-Next couple of decades we will see Istanbul to be a major hub
-TK to have a sizable fleet and flying to all continents.
-If there was a long lasting Middle East peace, just imagine the possibilities of air transport.
-If there was a relaxing of the visa requirements to Europe, just imagine the possibilities.
-TK to finally absorb the expansion and pay more attention to service, quality, safety and consistency.
-We might see other Turkish carriers flying Wide Bodies.
-There might be RJs doing domestic thin routes.
-Hopefully most jets by then might be using alternative fuels
According to Erdogan, after the move to the new airport is complete the Ataturk airport grounds will be modified to allow for private jets and a large green space.
TK787 From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 4104 posts, RR: 13 Reply 39, posted (3 months 1 week 6 days 21 hours ago) and read 7922 times:
MRS to start on June 4th and here is the list of announced but not started wishlist of cities by TK.
How come there is no Detroit, Atlanta on this list?
By the way, the list is getting short, time for more cities from TK I say,
Luxor
Aswan
Gassim
Rotterdam
Abha
Malta
Asmara
Kharkiv
Luanda
Abuja
Kano
Caracas
Mexico
Boston
Havana
San Francisco
Montreal
Njamena
Juba
Katmandu
Masar-i-Sharif
Friedrichshafen
Lankaran
Bogota
Bamako
Krakow
Just took out Aqaba from the list, thanks" Leftyboarder."
Cross Aqaba off that list BTW, I think DTW never made it to the announcements page on TK website. ATL, I think they've given up due to the difficulties of a 1-stop operation to the US.
TK787 From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 4104 posts, RR: 13 Reply 43, posted (3 months 1 week 6 days 20 hours ago) and read 7870 times:
Mileage Help please???
So, I left DL Skymiles for Turkey flights and started flying TK mostly to IST, putting those miles toward UA Mileage Plus.
After a year, I found out that I can't get to a Premier Level with those miles, since I haven't flown any UA flights.
What to do from now on?
I hardly ever fly UA, mostly DL domestic, TK to Istanbul.
Switch to Miles and Smiles?
judging by the amount of flights to IST you take throughout the it does make sense to switch to miles and smiles. if you have any status with mileage plus ask them to match it. i hear that they are very keen to match statuses.
Hey man it seems we are exactly in the same situation, I'm DL PMM but after freq reduction I made the switch on my IST Flights starting on December. Prior to that I tried status match with miles smiles and have't heard anything from that. Yet forums say they do it. I am working on it hopefully it will work. These kind of customer service things are when you get frustrated with TK, but the product to IST is enough for you to forgive them
TK787 From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 4104 posts, RR: 13 Reply 46, posted (3 months 1 week 6 days 13 hours ago) and read 7652 times:
Thanks guys,
Still debating, but looks like I might keep UA Mileage Plus instead of Miles and Smiles, since USA is home and I have more chance of choosing UA from now on and eventually combine all miles under one program.
CaliAtenza From United States of America, joined Dec 2006, 1130 posts, RR: 0 Reply 47, posted (3 months 1 week 6 days 13 hours ago) and read 7643 times:
I hope the progress continues as you have layed out nicely, the only thing I wish in this progress is to see a 747 in TK colors, a dream since my childhood,
TK787 From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 4104 posts, RR: 13 Reply 49, posted (3 months 1 week 5 days 20 hours ago) and read 7377 times:
Never thought about this, but it could happen, right?
After seeing this other thread about AC having a high density 77W; Air Canada Launches New 458-Seater 77W (by KarelXWB Feb 7 2013 in Civil Aviation)
One day TK could shrink the Comfort class and add more 3-3-3 Y class and it would be like this;
28J/21Comfort/357Y ,Ouch! (I'm not even saying they could try 3-4-3, that would make 398Yseats!!)
That means a better chance of filling the Comfort Class seats with higher paying pax (increased revenue)
also increasing the seat capacity of the plane by 20%. (increased revenue)
That would also mean less cargo space?, maybe reduced range? and a terrible experience for everyone, incl. crew.
Today, TK doesn't need this high capacity but who knows??
Nimish From India, joined Feb 2005, 3076 posts, RR: 9 Reply 50, posted (3 months 1 week 5 days 17 hours ago) and read 7264 times:
Quoting TK787 (Reply 43): So, I left DL Skymiles for Turkey flights and started flying TK mostly to IST, putting those miles toward UA Mileage Plus.
After a year, I found out that I can't get to a Premier Level with those miles, since I haven't flown any UA flights.
No brainer IMO, move to TK's M&S program. UA's MP is useful only if you're flying UA, LH, NH etc. - due to the bonus miles on those airlines. However the requirement of 4 flights on UA metal is a bummer. As is the lack of any extra benefits when flying TK as a UP *G.
TK787 From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 4104 posts, RR: 13 Reply 51, posted (3 months 1 week 5 days 12 hours ago) and read 7158 times:
Winter storm expected in NYC and area tomorrow. More than 1000 flights cancelled.
TK cancelling tomorrows NYC flights or play the divert game to Boston, IAD and such????
ASA From Bangladesh, joined Dec 2010, 381 posts, RR: 2 Reply 55, posted (3 months 1 week 5 days 5 hours ago) and read 7138 times:
Quoting TK787 (Reply 51): Winter storm expected in NYC and area tomorrow. More than 1000 flights cancelled.
TK cancelling tomorrows NYC flights or play the divert game to Boston, IAD and such????
BOS is in a worse shape, actually ... they are expected to get much more snow in New England.
My flights from DEN-BOS on friday has been cancelled twice already ... am hoping that I can get home late on Saturday atleast ...
emrecan From Turkey, joined Feb 2000, 914 posts, RR: 8 Reply 56, posted (3 months 1 week 5 days 3 hours ago) and read 7094 times:
Quoting TK787 (Reply 51): Winter storm expected in NYC and area tomorrow. More than 1000 flights cancelled.
TK cancelling tomorrows NYC flights or play the divert game to Boston, IAD and such????
TK3 is on the way, hope to see them landing safely to JFK
Northstar80 From United States of America, joined Nov 2009, 157 posts, RR: 0 Reply 59, posted (3 months 1 week 4 days 20 hours ago) and read 6935 times:
Can someone help me with loads on a TK flight? Can you please PM me..
You have to have your heart in the business and the business in your heart. -Thomas J Watson
Well, it is on its way. By the time it gets to NYC, more than likely it will be stuck at the airport. I am so glad that I'm not on JFK-IST flight tonight, it will be a mess.
LAXintl From United States of America, joined May 2000, 22028 posts, RR: 51 Reply 61, posted (3 months 1 week 4 days 11 hours ago) and read 6800 times:
Another look back at the past.
This time THY schedules for 1963 - the 30 year anniversary of the airline.
Route / weekly frequency / equipment type;
Istanbul - Ankara - 42x - mix Fokker 27, Viscount
Istanbul - Izmir - 21x - F-27
Istanbul - Bursa - 21x - DC3
Istanbul - Bandirma - Balikesir - 7x - DC3
Istanbul - Yalova - 3x - DC3
Istanbul - Afyon - Antalya - 2x - F27
Istanbul - Athens - Rome - Frankfurt - 3x - Visount
Ankara - Samsun - Trabzon - 7x - F27
Ankara - Diyarbakir - Van - 2x - DC3
Ankara - Malatya - Diyarbakir - 2x - F27
Ankara - Kayseri - Elazig - 2x - DC3
Ankara - Adana - 7x - F27
Ankara - Adana - Lefkose - 5x - F27
Ankara - Adana - Beirut - 2x - Viscount
Ankara - Izmir - Athens - 3x - F27
TK787 From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 4104 posts, RR: 13 Reply 62, posted (3 months 1 week 4 days 4 hours ago) and read 6727 times:
Quoting TK787 (Reply 60): more than likely it will be stuck at the airport.
Wow, TK12 took off on time.
With all the snow around NYC, and all cancellations at JFK; kudos to the crews at JFK.
Maybe someone know the load on the flight? http://flightaware.com/live/flight/THY12
By the way, 4800 flights have been cancelled so far around the region.
JU068 From Serbia, joined Aug 2009, 2579 posts, RR: 6 Reply 63, posted (3 months 1 week 4 days 4 hours ago) and read 6720 times:
I have a question related to Turkish Airlines' expansion in SAW. I suppose that for now they are targeting the O&D markets but what is the possibility of them expanding their operations to build a new hub that would initially offer connections between the wider Middle Eastern area to Europe? Is this their plan or are they going to develop their operations just for the needs of the O&D market?
On a side note, interesting times ahead for Turkish Airlines in the Balkans as Pegasus has directly attacked them on several key routes. When it comes to Zagreb, Turkish Airlines will finally have a free access to the market from this summer. They will no longer have to deal with Croatia Airlines and its protector, the Croatian government.
TK787 From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 4104 posts, RR: 13 Reply 64, posted (3 months 1 week 4 days 4 hours ago) and read 6731 times:
Quoting JU068 (Reply 63): Is this their plan or are they going to develop their operations just for the needs of the O&D market?
TK to base 15 aircraft at SAW this summer. This is only temporary to take some load off of IST. The plan might be to have everythin under one umbrella when the new airport opens. But by then SAW might become a secondary hub just like airlines using JFK, LGA and EWR at the same time.
Quoting JU068 (Reply 63): interesting times ahead for Turkish Airlines in the Balkans
Pegasus ordered almost 100 NEOs, I bet they will challenge TK on all its short haul routes in the future out of SAW and even the new airport.
Thanks, well looking at the schedule of the new routes launched out of SAW it seems to me that they are building waves of arrivals and departures which would indicate they are interested in more than just the O&D. How crowded is SAW? Can it handle both Turkish Airlines and Pegasus expanding so fast? How is Pegasus doing financially?
By the way, looking at the new airport and its location, is seems to be a bit outside the city. Is there a large catchment area? I am asking because one day when IST is closed down, could SAW become the more convenient airport for people who travel into Istanbul?
SAW is also expanding, with a new runway. I think both SAW and Pegasus doing fine. Pegasus should be fine finanacially if they could afford to order 100 or so NEOs.
New Istanbul airport will still be the more convenient even though farther, since TK will have its own terminal and most international flights both TK and others will be out of the new Istanbul. SAW also will keep serving people living on the Asian side for both domestic and int. destinations.
TurkishWings From Turkey, joined May 2006, 1407 posts, RR: 9 Reply 68, posted (3 months 1 week 3 days 17 hours ago) and read 6466 times:
Does anyone know what this Swiss lady has been doing in IST this past couple of days? Last time I saw a Swiss wide body in IST was lights years ago and those were the good old MD11s...
TurkishWings From Turkey, joined May 2006, 1407 posts, RR: 9 Reply 69, posted (3 months 1 week 3 days 17 hours ago) and read 6453 times:
Quoting JU068 (Reply 63): On a side note, interesting times ahead for Turkish Airlines in the Balkans as Pegasus has directly attacked them on several key routes. When it comes to Zagreb, Turkish Airlines will finally have a free access to the market from this summer. They will no longer have to deal with Croatia Airlines and its protector, the Croatian government.
On the other hand, Turks now need a visa to go to Croatia (as of April 2013) so I guess it's popularity will also decrease... Over the past few summers, we have seen many charter flights from IST to DBV... I guess we wont be seeing too many of them this summer...
JU068 From Serbia, joined Aug 2009, 2579 posts, RR: 6 Reply 70, posted (3 months 1 week 3 days 16 hours ago) and read 6419 times:
Quoting TK787 (Reply 66): New Istanbul airport will still be the more convenient even though farther, since TK will have its own terminal and most international flights both TK and others will be out of the new Istanbul. SAW also will keep serving people living on the Asian side for both domestic and int. destinations.
That I understand but what I was referring to was getting to the airport from the city. The current airport is more than convenient because you are in the city. I was just wondering if moving the airport outside the city will make SAW more attractive.
Good point, but I was wondering if Turkish Airlines might actually add flights to Zagreb in order to feed its hub. According to some sources Croatia Airlines is bleeding money on its Istanbul service and it was advised to cancel it. This would be good news for TK and potentially Pegasus.
Thanks for that. But what do you mean that their lobby was too strong? What did they do? Isn't it between AtlasJet and Ankara airport to establish these links or do they need the government's approval?
LAXintl From United States of America, joined May 2000, 22028 posts, RR: 51 Reply 74, posted (3 months 1 week 2 days 15 hours ago) and read 6080 times:
Simply put Atlasjet did not receive the permits to enable the service.
They later said they would explore running the service from Sabiha Gökçen instead. (and compete against Pegasus)
In the mean time Atlasjet has entered some other markets in January using the capacity - Adana, Gaziantep, Kayseri, Van and Kars.
Its interesting to note the new Atlasjet CEO came over from THY in October where he was incharge of AnadoluJet. (he also previously worked in the US for America West), so these route ideas are very much his.
From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California
umit From Turkey, joined May 2009, 120 posts, RR: 3 Reply 75, posted (3 months 1 week 2 days 14 hours ago) and read 6062 times:
I flew back from London to Istanbul by 738-JHO , delivered just a few days ago . I have never been such a new plane before . It was even smelling like a new car and even the wings were shining differently . Interior was looking great in business class specialy when they turned on blue lights of sky interior. Even though it was 22.30 flight load factor was I guess over 70 percent. So ea least my return trip paid off
No, this is NOT the new uniform of TK. This is just a study leaked in to the social media and taken out of proportion. TK has NOT selected this uniform.
tcm From Turkey, joined Jul 2010, 584 posts, RR: 2 Reply 81, posted (3 months 1 week 2 days 2 hours ago) and read 5811 times:
Quoting LAXintl (Reply 74): In the mean time Atlasjet has entered some other markets in January using the capacity - Adana, Gaziantep, Kayseri, Van and Kars.
I hope they do well. Have switched to KK (Atlasjet) whenever possible. They are currently offering the best and most competitive J/C product in Turkey. They have even partnered with Securedrive for a complimentary airport transfer service. TK is usually charging double and triple on fares to BJV and have cut their offerings at their domestic IST CIP lounge due to a conflict with BTA (TAV's catering subsidiary). Anyway I hope KK will truly become a well established full service carrier in Turkey offering an alternative in this segment.
Thank you. How are they doing financially though? Are they also expanding internationally and how serious of a competitor are they for Turkish Airlines?
I wonder what impact Turkish Airlines' launch of Malta will have on Emirates which have been operating this route via Larnaca for many years now. The route is currently operated by a B777-200.
LAXintl From United States of America, joined May 2000, 22028 posts, RR: 51 Reply 83, posted (3 months 1 week 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 5568 times:
Atlasjet is private so its hard to gauge their financial position.
However if I had to guess, I suspect they continue to lose money which is the catalyst for these 180-degree turns in their business strategy. We know from a US charter airline that Atlasjet owes them several million in aircraft leases.
For a little background on them -
o Formed in 2001 by German/Turkish holding group. Primarily a charter and ACMI airline with 757s
o In 2004 - Turkish travel company buys about half. Company business plan evolves into scheduled service on domestic and Europe routes with focus on becoming a quality competitor against TK. Corporate rebranding, frequent flyer program, joins IATA, e-tickets, fleet changes - A32x's, Bombardier RJs. Even negotiations on 2 A340 leases, and business venture with BA.
o 2006 shake up with German partner selling out.
o 2007 finances further deteriorate (its expensive to run a scheduled airline) and fleet and routes shrink mostly into domestic airline. Late 2007 a chartered MD-80 crashes due pilot error. Bad PR for Atlasjet.
o 2008 management shakeup. Back almost entirely to charter / ACMI model with small fleet.
o 2009 focus on charter/ACMI ops with contracts in Saudi Arabia especially. Become first A330 operator outside TK in Turkey.
o 2010 timid steps back into scheduled service - domestic/Cyprus. Investment from Russian partners, relaunch frequent flyer program. Says they turned a profit for the year.
o 2011 more schedule service - domestic, Iraq, Iran, Kosovo.
o 2012 growth in domestic flying, lots of it point to point markets. New senior management team brought in.
So it seems they want to get back to what they were doing back in 2004-2007. Time will tell if they will succeed this time.
From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California
Thanks. So is the extra capital coming in from Russia? (who is covering their losses?)
By the way, what happened to Borajet? I remember someone writing on here that they were working with Turkish Airlines... Wikipedia says they have 5 Atr 72-500 and that they fly to eight destinations.
debonair From Germany, joined Jan 2004, 2098 posts, RR: 4 Reply 88, posted (3 months 1 week 1 day ago) and read 5330 times:
Quoting tcm (Reply 81): I hope they do well. Have switched to KK (Atlasjet) whenever possible. They are currently offering the best and most competitive J/C product in Turkey.
True, also Economy class is by far one of the best I have seen (worldwide!). In one league with the old Lauda Air! AMAZING!
Unfortunately KK is suffering from very bad publicity in the last couple of weeks:
1. RYAN INTERNATIONAL is accusing KK of non-payment for leasing their A330 N772RD
2. the route ESB-IST was dropped after sale started without any information and passengers left stranded...
Quoting TK787 (Thread starter): Please continue with your news, photos, rumors, and good old sense of humor.
TK787 From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 4104 posts, RR: 13 Reply 89, posted (3 months 1 week 21 hours ago) and read 5231 times:
Quoting debonair (Reply 88): THY is dropping the booze on domestic flights for cost cutting
It says cost cutting and lack of demand.
I for one never traveled J domestic TK, so to me I never had a drink on my domestic flights with TK since TK doesn' serve alcohol in Y. I can do without a drink for an hour, I hope so.
But when traveling with PG on domestic, I always buy a drink. So much cheaper than the airport lounges.
Domestic flights are so short, a full single aisle with a meal service, coupled with a drink service can get crazy. I've seen it.
Same with TK discontinuing duty free carts on long haul.
But if you ask me, J pax should be treated like J pax and given that extra bit of touch. Why wouldn't a "4-star, globally yours, most countries flown,....." airline shouldn't carry 20 little bottles of booze on board for J pax beats me?
LAXintl From United States of America, joined May 2000, 22028 posts, RR: 51 Reply 90, posted (3 months 1 week 19 hours ago) and read 5169 times:
Will be interesting to see if Atlasjet can develop into something this time around.
Over the years we have seen a string of scheduled domestic airlines that come and go in Turkey.
Outside of Pegasus none have been able to hang on and grown into something sizable in the long run. And even Pegasus was touch and go in the beginning, but smartly opted to go to SAW and for a long time grew while avoiding direct competition with TK. Atlasjet on the otherhand chose to go head to head against TK at IST. This time it seems they are doing more point-to-point flying, while splitting their Istanbul ops both at IST and SAW.
Speaking of Pegasus, I read they signed a deal with KLM UK Engineering for 737 C checks.
From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California
just7four7 From Hong Kong, joined Oct 2009, 56 posts, RR: 0 Reply 93, posted (3 months 1 week 18 hours ago) and read 5141 times:
Guys... relax!
What is this race to the moon here?
More destinations by the hour, new aircraft, new uniforms, new what I don't know.
Slow down a bit...
There are limits. There is a more sensible approach to just blind growth.. IST airport is a limit for the next 4 years. Safety is a limit, other..? And I don't think it is sustainable to fly IST-LAS or what else new crazy destination..
I only hear more and more and more...
TK is a good carrier and I can see some of their current growth potential, but.. it has limits.
Please don't try to blindly compete with Emirates on the terms of "mine is bigger".
Stay humble, find smart ways to become sustainable as a business.
I don't want to see the gods punish such insanity.
Well Air Berlin is a member of oneworld, so I am sure Pegasus could be interesting for the other alliances, especially now that the Turkish economy is booming. Then again, it would mean that some airline would have to shift some of their operations from IST to SAW.
LAXintl From United States of America, joined May 2000, 22028 posts, RR: 51 Reply 95, posted (3 months 1 week 9 hours ago) and read 4936 times:
Ali Sabanci (owner/chairman of Pegasus) gave an interview last month.
He specifically said he was very open to codesharing/feeding airlines serving Turkey, particularly longhaul ones, but did not see an alliances in the future. It would simply complicate the LCC operation, and require it to adopt host of new complex policies to match others and requiring added financial investment.
Anyhow - you cant compare Air Berlin (which Pegasus parent has a 15% investment in ironically)
AB has been becoming more and more a regular airline including its longhaul ops, and product offering like premium business cabin, more complex FF program, hubs network, etc.
Pegasus is still very much a keep it basic LCC.
From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California
LAXintl From United States of America, joined May 2000, 22028 posts, RR: 51 Reply 97, posted (3 months 6 days 17 hours ago) and read 4698 times:
To celebrate Valentine's Day, Turkish Airlines is offering all passengers that originate from its US markets specialty decorated gift box of sweets such as heart shaped brownies, cupcakes, and flan between February 12 - 14.
From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California
Turkish350XWB From Switzerland, joined Jan 2009, 429 posts, RR: 0 Reply 98, posted (3 months 6 days 16 hours ago) and read 4678 times:
Quoting LAXintl (Reply 97): To celebrate Valentine's Day, Turkish Airlines is offering all passengers that originate from its US markets specialty decorated gift box of sweets such as heart shaped brownies, cupcakes, and flan between February 12 - 14.
6-7 years ago, on a New Year's Eve flight; JFK-IST, ( a light load, 50% LF or so), everyone was given a 375ml. French Champagne with a big slice of chocolate cake. Yummmm!
TK787 From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 4104 posts, RR: 13 Reply 100, posted (3 months 5 days 12 hours ago) and read 4395 times:
While on the subject;
On today's New York Times, page A11, whole page ad by TK, showing a couple holding hands.
It says; " ...Next year on Valentine's day, we invite you to visit Istanbul, the most romantic city in history. Create your own fairytale. BE OUR VALENTINE."
Strange.
The percentage of Americans traveling for V Day must be very small, let alone traveling all the way to Istanbul.
Flowers, chocolate, lingerie, champagne, lobster tails and now TK to Istanbul.
debonair From Germany, joined Jan 2004, 2098 posts, RR: 4 Reply 103, posted (3 months 5 days 1 hour ago) and read 4324 times:
Quoting stylo777 (Reply 102): they have another 2 A310 (TC-SGB and TC-SGC) leased to Ariana
Thank you!
But I thought both aircraft are stored in IST- at least the last picture on a.net dates back from 2011. In other news I heard, both A310 are sold to Iran- being prepared for Iran Airtour Airline .
not flying for Ariana since over a year according to ch-aviation fleet lists.
Also found this from last February;
"Ariana Afghan Airlines (FG, Kabul Khwaja Rawash International (KBL)) has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul Atatürk/Yesilköy International (IST)) which has agreed to provide consulting services in planning, marketing and maintenance to assist Ariana with its growth plans."
LAXintl From United States of America, joined May 2000, 22028 posts, RR: 51 Reply 106, posted (3 months 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 4118 times:
THY is apparently buying MNG Technic the largest private MRO in Turkey.
Reportedly THY growing fleet requires ever more maintenance capacity then it can keep up with. Even with TK's own continued expansion of THY Technic including major new facilities over at SAW, they have been unable to be sustain with the fast fleet growth.
Purchase of MNG Technic which already does some work for THY (particularly aircraft painting) will increase THY's hangar space along with with airframe and component capacity.
I'm not sure if they will also pick up the all the 2,000 MNG technician staff also.
This leaves SAW based myTechnic as the remaining largest private MRO vendor in Turkey. A few months back there was rumors Pegasus was considering a partnership to ensure the needed capacity for its own growing fleet.
From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California
LAXintl From United States of America, joined May 2000, 22028 posts, RR: 51 Reply 111, posted (2 months 3 weeks 6 days 10 hours ago) and read 3065 times:
That LHR advertising does not come cheap. I recall a few years back Virgin Atlantic was paying almost £1mil for only 3 months of large banners at the airport.
In other news I saw TAV Airport Holdings made a record profit in 2012 - €124 million, more than double the €53mil in 2011.
Apparently the biggest bright spot was a 23% increase in sales of duty free and store sale across its 12 airports.
Financial performance for Istanbul measured on per passenger basis actually decreased 1% as the percentage of O&D passengers declined and international to international transfer passengers increased from 30% to 34%. (airports make more fees on local passengers, not transits).
TAV says some financial bright spots in 2012 were addition of Medinah to the TAV portfolio, exceptional recovery in Tunisia, and Izmir domestic activity.
From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California
JU068 From Serbia, joined Aug 2009, 2579 posts, RR: 6 Reply 115, posted (2 months 3 weeks 4 days 20 hours ago) and read 2572 times:
It seems to me that Aeroflot's IL-96 has become a regular in Istanbul, could this be because of congestion at the airport? As in, they can't add more frequencies.
JU068 From Serbia, joined Aug 2009, 2579 posts, RR: 6 Reply 116, posted (2 months 3 weeks 4 days 2 hours ago) and read 2430 times:
Croatia Airlines will suspend its Istanbul flights, the last flight will be operated on March 30. Good new for Turkish Airlines, maybe now Pegasus might consider launching their own flights. It would make sense as they have been expanding in the Balkans recently.
TK787 From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 4104 posts, RR: 13 Reply 118, posted (2 months 3 weeks 3 days 20 hours ago) and read 2290 times:
Also, 4 years since the TK AMS crash. RIP to all who lost their lives.
It was a crazy morning here in the US, where you turn on the tv and you see a broken tail of TK 738 at AMS. Very difficult to watch and we were all here at a.net trying to get more answers.
That month's thread, there were even questions like; "Will TK postpone expanding plans after this accident?" Turkish Aviation February 2009 (by TK787 Jan 31 2009 in Civil Aviation)
TK787 From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 4104 posts, RR: 13 Reply 119, posted (2 months 3 weeks 3 days 20 hours ago) and read 2279 times:
Also this;
We know it has been big news in Turkey the last few weeks about TK's decision about new crew uniforms, selective domestic alcohol service (or lack of); Hadj prayers on PTV's. Thanks for not taking the bait and bringing that mess here but Now this morning it is on the front page of New York Times;
TK now has to do catch up, damage control, explaining. I wish they came out earlier and told to shareholders about these changes. Though this statement from the above article does not help; “The Turkish Airlines vision matches with our government’s vision,” said the chairman, Hamdi Topcu. “There is no difference between them and us. It is the government that appointed us.”
-Thanks to everyone not to turn this into a political thread and please keep things 'about aviation".
TK787 From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 4104 posts, RR: 13 Reply 121, posted (2 months 3 weeks 3 days 19 hours ago) and read 2234 times:
Quoting JU068 (Reply 120): Would there be a special channel for it or would it be obligatory for everyone to see them?
Maybe someone in Turkey can contribute, but AFAIK if you board a TK flight to Saudia Arabia (for Hadj only? or all flights? I am not sure), during take-off or shortly after (not sure) this video comes up in Arabic, Turkish and English (English around 1 minute mark on the video); starts with "Dear guests, now you will hear a prayer our prophet preached before his journeys."
It looks like it is on all PTVs and can be heard throughout the whole cabin. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=y4N9hLIZQMg
777way From Pakistan, joined Dec 2005, 5172 posts, RR: 4 Reply 122, posted (2 months 3 weeks 3 days 19 hours ago) and read 2216 times:
Whats is Hajj prayer? is it that chant the pilgrims recite when proceding to Mecca? if so its only for Hajj/Umra and need only be aired on a channel on flights to Saudi, people should see it if they want to, not be forced on them.
The one in the video is travel prayer its totally different, many muslim states airlines air those, sometimes a crew member recites it on the PA system.
Sorry about my wording. I guess I should have written, travel prayer on the way to Hadj. (still not sure if this is only for specific flights or all flights to Saudia Arabia.) I am sure someone with more knowledge will chime in.
OA260 From Ireland, joined Nov 2006, 24891 posts, RR: 60 Reply 125, posted (2 months 3 weeks 3 days 17 hours ago) and read 2145 times:
Quoting TK787 (Reply 119): We know it has been big news in Turkey the last few weeks about TK's decision about new crew uniforms, selective domestic alcohol service (or lack of); Hadj prayers on PTV's. Thanks for not taking the bait and bringing that mess here but Now this morning it is on the front page of New York Times;
TK need to be careful as they have spent a lot of time and money on portraying a product but it is easily ruined by turning in one direction. They could turn off the people they have been trying to attract. Lack of alcohol on some routes and Hadj prayers on KSA routes is one thing but where do they intend to stop ?
OLYMPIC AIR - ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΗ "Η ΕΛΛΑΔΑ ΨΗΛΑ" "GREECE FLYING HIGH"
LAXintl From United States of America, joined May 2000, 22028 posts, RR: 51 Reply 126, posted (2 months 3 weeks 3 days 16 hours ago) and read 2119 times:
Considering Saudi Arabia is TK's 6th largest network market in addition to operating thousand of Hajj and Umrah flights, I don't see its a big issue. Its really not a religious issue at all, but instead being attentive to your client base.
Anyhow, I'm actually surprised TK has not enabled the compass symbol towards Mecca on its IFE system yet. Quite common feature to assist passengers in the region. I even believe either Boeing or Airbus with their new interior even offer the option to get the Mecca symbol illuminated throughout the cabin ceiling.
Cool, but shame its only a 31% float. With such a small release, the BoD will still very much still be loyal to ESAS and Sabanci and their actions could in the long run conflict with independent interest.
Quoting TK787 (Reply 117): How does the IPO's work in Turkey. Who gets to buy before the first day of trade?
Generally similar to the US, with various banks underwriting the shares and subsequently either sitting on them, sharing them with clients, or placing them on the open market.
From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California
TurkishWings From Turkey, joined May 2006, 1407 posts, RR: 9 Reply 127, posted (2 months 3 weeks 3 days 16 hours ago) and read 2139 times:
A TK cargo plane (TC-JDO 330-200) is en route IST-DAM right now as TK 6442. Does anyone know anything more? I thought Turkish planes were banned from Syrian airspace let alone landing in one...
leftyboarder From Turkey, joined Apr 2008, 647 posts, RR: 1 Reply 129, posted (2 months 3 weeks 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 1895 times:
Quoting TK787 (Reply 119): Also this;
We know it has been big news in Turkey the last few weeks about TK's decision about new crew uniforms, selective domestic alcohol service (or lack of); Hadj prayers on PTV's. Thanks for not taking the bait and bringing that mess here but Now this morning it is on the front page of New York Times;
TK now has to do catch up, damage control, explaining. I wish they came out earlier and told to shareholders about these changes. Though this statement from the above article does not help;
“The Turkish Airlines vision matches with our government’s vision,” said the chairman, Hamdi Topcu. “There is no difference between them and us. It is the government that appointed us.”
-Thanks to everyone not to turn this into a political thread and please keep things 'about aviation".
You are right that we should shy away from politics, as this is not the place for such discussion. We all are aviation enthusiasts and not party members trying to drum up support for - or protest against - something.
Unfortunately, once the word gets out regarding topics like this, it is very difficult to hush the negative vibe out there. A moment's lapse by TK management can cause the wiping out of years of goodwill and image building. Not many people that currently fly TK would be happy to see it likened to SV or IR, be it the truth or not. And obviously there are many competitors out there who would be very happy to play up such blunders by TK management and try to destroy its reputation. Case in point:
Azure From France, joined Dec 2012, 201 posts, RR: 0 Reply 130, posted (2 months 3 weeks 2 days 15 hours ago) and read 1778 times:
Quoting leftyboarder (Reply 129): there are many competitors out there who would be very happy to play up such blunders by TK management and try to destroy its reputation. Case in point:
TK Project For A New Uniform (by Azure Feb 26 2013 in Civil Aviation)
I personally do not wish to see TK associated with topics like this, but rather with success stories. I want to be proud of my national airline.
I opened the quoted thread and asked the moderators of this forum to delete it when I realized the topic had been widely discussed before.
Please note I do not work for any TK competitor (nor for any airline).
Rather than putting the blame on posters like me, blame TK management for their own contradictions : how can you call yourself a "European Airline" when you dress (or plan to dress) your crew in a very conservative middle eastern way (and there is nothing wrong about it per se)?
In fact, this case probably reveals the contradiction of the current Turkish society, but that is another topic and you are definitely right, this is not the place to discuss it.
Sorry if I hurt anyone, this was certainly not my intention, but I cannot feel responsible if IMHO TK manages its PR in a very poor way. Sooner or later, this airline will have to choose whether it is European or not.
SCQ83 From United States of America, joined Oct 2012, 459 posts, RR: 0 Reply 131, posted (2 months 3 weeks 2 days 14 hours ago) and read 1761 times:
Quoting LAXintl (Reply 126): Considering Saudi Arabia is TK's 6th largest network market in addition to operating thousand of Hajj and Umrah flights, I don't see its a big issue. Its really not a religious issue at all, but instead being attentive to your client base.
Which client base? Western and Asian airlines do great business in Saudi Arabia without being "Islamic-compliant".
Many "progressive" Saudis (not to mention expats) are happy to fly a more "relaxed" airline that what they might find at home. Think of Malaysia Airlines (from a muslim country), which dresses their air hostesses in a non-very religious way (and they carry tons of pilgrims from Malaysia, Brunei or Indonesia to JED). I would say that even NAS Air (the Saudi low-cost airline) uniforms are more Westernized. Not to mention EK, QR or EY. And anyway most low-income pilgrims would fly whatever is cheaper, and funny enough many of those flights are chartered to European companies.
IMO, TK branding in Western Europe is still quite weak. I certainly know a few people who wouldn't even think of Turkish (flying a Turkish plane, no way!) yet they are happy to fly Emirates which has a huge brand name and is Westernized enough. Now just board a TK plane for the first time let's say, flying from the UK to Thailand, I don't think this gives a good vibe to most of the passengers.
OA260 From Ireland, joined Nov 2006, 24891 posts, RR: 60 Reply 132, posted (2 months 3 weeks 2 days 13 hours ago) and read 1705 times:
Quoting leftyboarder (Reply 129): Unfortunately, once the word gets out regarding topics like this, it is very difficult to hush the negative vibe out there. A moment's lapse by TK management can cause the wiping out of years of goodwill and image building. Not many people that currently fly TK would be happy to see it likened to SV or IR, be it the truth or not. And obviously there are many competitors out there who would be very happy to play up such blunders by TK management and try to destroy its reputation.
Exaclty which is totally my point. Lets hope they tread carefully. They should stick to the football Ads and secular product and they will be fine.
OLYMPIC AIR - ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΗ "Η ΕΛΛΑΔΑ ΨΗΛΑ" "GREECE FLYING HIGH"
Well, I certainly was not referring to you specifically when I mentioned the competition. And I am critical of TK management in the last few weeks for their mishaps.
777way From Pakistan, joined Dec 2005, 5172 posts, RR: 4 Reply 134, posted (2 months 3 weeks 1 day 14 hours ago) and read 1443 times:
But that prayer is only being played on Saudi route mostly for Tutkish pilgrims beside Saudis, no where else on TK network, would it be an issue if they were catering to religious sentiments of other groups fying to their destinations like TLV for example?
Malaysia airlines unifrom is their national dress, not something cooked up as a uniform, besides malayisa is thousands of miles from Saudi, Turkey is practically next door, its culturally quite Islamic and Middle Eastern in the smaller places.
As for the supposed new TK uniforms, they are not Islamic at all, there is no head cover, the coats are long, thats about it, the necks are covered with scarf even in current uniform, the longish skirt length give it a classy, elegent look, short skirts look bad on airlien crew, the knee andn thigh showing looks very uprofessional and shabby, the winter coats could be made shorter, thats all.
I dont think anyone has the right to tell Turkey to decide wether it is European or Asian, they are both, they can be secular European and secular Asian too, celebrating and making the most of both cultures.
TK will not be IR or SV, they will be like EK, EY and QR, those airlines are not conservative by any strecth of imagination, despite representing fairlly conservative cultures, people are being paranoid and trying to create a negative image of TK with this talk, could be an agenda you never know.
Azure From France, joined Dec 2012, 201 posts, RR: 0 Reply 135, posted (2 months 3 weeks 1 day 12 hours ago) and read 1361 times:
Quoting 777way (Reply 134): short skirts look bad on airlien crew, the knee andn thigh showing looks very uprofessional and shabby
Are you serious ? Well, it is your priviledge to believe so, and I respect the traditional modesty of islamic countries...
But the issue is elsewhere : can TK call themselves an "European airline" and dress their crew the way they intend to ?
Indeed, you state that :
Quoting 777way (Reply 134): As for the supposed new TK uniforms, they are not Islamic at all
They may not be "Islamic at all" from YOUR point of view, but they are not European at all from MY point of view !
And please ask the average man in the street here in Europe, and you will get the same answer !
In order to clarify my point, here is a picture representing TK uniforms in the 1980s and the "new" ones :
Do the FAs on the left look unprofessional and shabby ? Not to me... Do they look like European ? Yes.
Now, do the FAs on the right look professional : Yes. Do they look like European : No.
There is nothing wrong in the way these new uniforms would look, I suppose, but please acknowledge that TK management either suffer from schizophrenia if they carry on their project, or mislead their customers when they advertise their airline as "European" !
Most important, how do you think their European customers would react ? Do you sincerely believe these Europeans would feel in an European airline, especially if alcohol is banned on the flight (if I may take the liberty to be sarcastic just once) ? What would be the credibility of such an airline ?
I hope you can understand I have absolutely no other agenda than pointing out a major contradiction at TK...
To be accurate, those are NOT the new uniforms. They are one (or few) of many options presented to TK board by the designer selected to do the job. Granted, they are distasteful enough to never have been an option, but they certainly are far from THE uniform for TK in the future. If anything, TK will have learned not to play into the hands of critics, and discard these options (along with anything that resembles them) from the shortist.
OA260 From Ireland, joined Nov 2006, 24891 posts, RR: 60 Reply 138, posted (2 months 3 weeks 1 day 11 hours ago) and read 1320 times:
This photo the Men's suit is very classy and smart. The dark Women's suit is lovely with that pattern. The red is too in your face. I think a silk neck item made out of the same colour as the Men's tie would compliment the dark suit. Maybe the blouse should be a bit less bright white but its better than the rest that's for sure.
OLYMPIC AIR - ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΗ "Η ΕΛΛΑΔΑ ΨΗΛΑ" "GREECE FLYING HIGH"
Northstar80 From United States of America, joined Nov 2009, 157 posts, RR: 0 Reply 140, posted (2 months 3 weeks 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 1204 times:
I recently had the chance to fly the new IST-MLE route. It is very convenient, nonstop to Male. The flight continues over to CMB, Colombo in Sri Lanka.
IST-MLE was an A332, I think the overall loadfactor was around 90%. Most of the passengers unboarded in MLE, only a few people continued over to CMB. The MLE passengers were mostly western Europeans with a few Turks.
The flight leaves IST at 1 am and arrives MLE around 11 am. Almost all the travellers are people going to vacations, so if the flight landed earlier, it would be better. I noticed an interesting thing with the meal in the flight. Upon boarding we were served breakfast (!) at around 2 am. And in the morning before landing, when it was breakfast time we were given small sandwiches. I think it shoud've been the other way around, you need the breakfast before landing when you just wake up.
MLE-IST flight was an A333 and it was almost full too. Around 170 passengers boarded the plane in MLE. Again in the return leg, similar breakfast-sandwich problem was there. The flight leaves MLE at midnight and arrives IST at around 5 am in the morning.
In my opinion, the return legs flight is very very late. The reason being, people take seaplanes from the resorts to the MLE airport and the seaplanes do not operate at night. So the latest, you arrive at the Male airport at around 5 pm and wait 6-7 hours in a tiny terminal with few seats. It is very inconvinient. Other operators, EK, SIA, MAS, BA, leave earlier, so the passengers have less time to kill at the airport.
You have to have your heart in the business and the business in your heart. -Thomas J Watson
I said a few threads back this route would do well with the Western European clients. Maybe tour operators have included TK in their programs too. Good too see it was nearly full.
OLYMPIC AIR - ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΗ "Η ΕΛΛΑΔΑ ΨΗΛΑ" "GREECE FLYING HIGH"
MeCe From Turkey, joined Oct 2009, 108 posts, RR: 0 Reply 143, posted (2 months 3 weeks 1 day 1 hour ago) and read 1151 times:
No one is noticed that ? If so sorry for double post
Istanbul – Kuala Lumpur (KUL) – Istanbul flights will be launched as 3 flights per week as of April 25, 2013, the frequencies will be increased to 4 flights per week as of June 17, 2013
OA260 From Ireland, joined Nov 2006, 24891 posts, RR: 60 Reply 145, posted (2 months 3 weeks 1 day ago) and read 1111 times:
Quoting MeCe (Reply 143): Istanbul – Kuala Lumpur (KUL) – Istanbul flights will be launched as 3 flights per week as of April 25, 2013, the frequencies will be increased to 4 flights per week as of June 17, 2013
Good to see more TK own metal rather than the codeshare with MH which is a very outdated product compared to TK.
Quoting JU068 (Reply 144): What aircraft will they use to KUL?
B777
OLYMPIC AIR - ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΗ "Η ΕΛΛΑΔΑ ΨΗΛΑ" "GREECE FLYING HIGH"
TK787 From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 4104 posts, RR: 13 Reply 148, posted (2 months 3 weeks 20 hours ago) and read 941 times:
Quoting Northstar80 (Reply 140): In my opinion, the return legs flight is very very late.
Lucky you flying to MLE. Like others said, the way IST is, they are doing everything to fly between midnight and 5am. I used to look how many flights they have out of IST after midnight and there would be only a few flights, now many many flights.
You bet, they lack class and sophistication, isnt that what an airline is supposed to represent?
Quoting Azure (Reply 135): do the FAs on the right look professional : Yes. Do they look like European : No.
Shorten the skirts, westernise the jackets, perhaps drop the print and go plain, remove the hats and scarfs and the uniforms are great, I personally do not like the BAesqe marmish center one though.
Quoting Azure (Reply 135): can TK call themselves an "European airline"
Why not? if B&H and Albanian airline crew start covering their heads with scarf are they not worthy of calling themselves European despite being in Europe proper?
TK787 From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 4104 posts, RR: 13 Reply 151, posted (2 months 3 weeks 14 hours ago) and read 782 times:
Quoting TK787 (Reply 148): I used to look how many flights they have out of IST after midnight and there would be only a few flights, now many many flights.
Looking at IST schedule after midnight tonight;
-TBS, AER, ALA, ISU, TIF, CAI, EBL, DXB, TZX, PVG, SIN, ASB, CAN, HBE, DOH, PEK, KIX, BKK, TLV, JNB, ICN, RUH, HKG, AMM, BEY, KWI, MLE, JED, GYD, IKA, GZT, ADA, SZF, ESB, ADB, DIY
are all TK departures that I can see between midnight and 1:30am.
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