Tag: THY

Turks in America

Turks in America

Unlike in Europe, there are more qualified Turkish citizens residing in the United States, even though they are lesser in overall number. These people are active in a number of fields, ranging from academia to business, yet have been unable to achieve various levels of success and make themselves noticeable.

However, I noticed this is changing during a trip to Los Angeles last fall, as well as a recent meeting sponsored by the Turkic-American Alliance held in Washington, D.C. last week. The alliance, which has six federations and 180 associations across the US, hosts federations founded by immigrants from Anatolia, Central Asia and the Balkans. The alliance has been fairly active and has managed to maintain close ties with a number of senators and members of the House of Representatives, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Dignitaries including Richard Lugar, Robert Casey, Frank Lautenberg, Jeff Bingaman, Roger Wicker, Mark Warner and Kay Hagan attended an alliance meeting last year in Washington. This year’s meeting, titled New Challenges and Opportunities, was attended by Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek as speaker; and frankly, he attracted a great deal of attention. A number of senators and representatives attended the closing gala Wednesday. How this came about is a question that needs to be considered.

This successful Turkish presence in the US is attributable to the influence and activities of various associations at a local level. They might have waited long time to get an appointment or attract support but they never give up. They created a network of contacts and ties and established friendships with lawmakers at the state level. They got in touch with politicians before elections and supported their campaigns. They expanded their sphere of activities to maintain direct ties with senators and representatives; their activities often become invaluable for the politicians, so valuable that they could not be ignored. That is, they do not limit their activities to lobbying in Washington; they reached out to the grassroots. And they also brought influential leaders on regular trips to Turkey and hosted them in lovely destinations such as Hatay, Konya, Cappadocia and İzmir.

The increased presence of Turkish Airlines (THY) in the US also served an important role in this success. For instance, THY will launch a new route between Houston and İstanbul in March 2012, in light of the activities of Turkish associations in Texas. The approach of direct contact and getting to know a culture allows obstacles to be overcome. Thousands of volunteers have tirelessly made an effort to better promote Turkey. Of course, an improved relationship between Washington and Ankara has also constructively contributed to the current atmosphere.

Washington realizes that Turkey has greater influence in the transformation efforts of the people in the region due to its soft power. Moves such as reduced tension with Israel, the creation of the UN radar system and secular messages to Arab nations were properly read in the US capitol. Reconciliation between the state and the Turkish people has also contributed to this process. Turkish Ambassador Namık Tan maintained constructive and influential ties with Turkish associations and extended his support for their activities. The outcome of this is now becoming visible with Turkey’s growing influence and its changing perception and image in the US.

via Turks in America.

Ergun Babahan

December 5, 2011
Iraq, Turkey end bans on flights, open skies to other country’s planes

From Mohammed Tawfeeq, CNN

File picture dated 03 August 2005 shows an Iraqi Airlines Boeing 737 type plane at the tarmac of the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul.

Baghdad (CNN) — Iraq and Turkey have agreed to allow flights between their countries, ending a mutual ban that began with a dispute about how an Iraqi government oil company owed millions of dollars to Turkey, Iraqi officials said Thursday.

Turkish planes resumed flights to Iraq on Thursday and were landing at the Baghdad airport, Iraq’s Ministry of Transportation said.

Iraqi airliners will begin landing in Istanbul on Friday, officials said.

On Monday, Iraq banned all Turkish flights from landing in the country, including the semiautonomous Kurdish region, as a response to a similar ban last week in Turkey against Iraqi flights.

However, a Turkish government official denied that Ankara blocked Iraqi planes. The official did say that Turkey warned that if Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization did not pay the $3 million owed to his country, the country would ban Iraqi aircraft.

Both countries agreed to drop the bans after negotiations.

After years of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, Turkey’s flagship carrier Turkish Airlines was one of the first international companies to begin direct flights to Baghdad. Increasingly, Turkey has grown as a major international gateway for commerce and travel to and from its Iraqi neighbor.

CNN’s Michael Martinez contributed to this report.

via Iraq, Turkey end bans on flights, open skies to other country’s planes – CNN.com.

November 26, 2011
Iraq, Turkey end bans on flights, open skies to other country’s planes

From Mohammed Tawfeeq, CNN

November 24, 2011 — Updated 2308 GMT (0708 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Iraq and Turkey agree to drop flight bans against each other

Dispute began over a $3 million debt that Turkey says Iraq owes

Turkish planes begin landing again in Baghdad on Thursday

Baghdad (CNN) — Iraq and Turkey have agreed to allow flights between their countries, ending a mutual ban that began with a dispute about how an Iraqi government oil company owed millions of dollars to Turkey, Iraqi officials said Thursday.

Turkish planes resumed flights to Iraq on Thursday and were landing at the Baghdad airport, Iraq’s Ministry of Transportation said.

Iraqi airliners will begin landing in Istanbul on Friday, officials said.

On Monday, Iraq banned all Turkish flights from landing in the country, including the semiautonomous Kurdish region, as a response to a similar ban last week in Turkey against Iraqi flights.

However, a Turkish government official denied that Ankara blocked Iraqi planes. The official did say that Turkey warned that if Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization did not pay the $3 million owed to his country, the country would ban Iraqi aircraft.

Both countries agreed to drop the bans after negotiations.

After years of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, Turkey’s flagship carrier Turkish Airlines was one of the first international companies to begin direct flights to Baghdad. Increasingly, Turkey has grown as a major international gateway for commerce and travel to and from its Iraqi neighbor.

CNN’s Michael Martinez contributed to this report.

via Iraq, Turkey end bans on flights, open skies to other country’s planes – CNN.com.

November 25, 2011
Baghdad bans Turkish plans from landing in Iraq

Baghdad bans Turkish plans from landing in Iraq

Communications 11/19/2011 11:43:00 PM

BAGHDAD, Nov 19 (KUNA) — Iraq will ban Turkish airplanes from landing in Iraqi airports as of tomorrow in retaliation of Ankara’s forbidding of Iraqi aircraft from landing in Turkey, a government official said Saturday.

“We have decided to ban Turkish airplanes from landing in Iraq as of tomorrow Sunday,” transport minister Hadi Al-Ameri said in a press statement.

The Iraqi move followed Turkish authorities’ ban of Iraqi airplanes from landing in Istanbul airport because of what Ankara claimed was Iraq’s Oil Marketing Company’s (Somo) unpaid debt of USD five million.

“The decision to ban the Turkish airplanes is final until Iraqi planes are allowed to land in Turkish airports,” said Al-Ameri.

The Iraqi foreign ministry tried to settle this issue via diplomatic means but failed, he said, but the Turkish government said the ban was in line with a court order. (end) mhg.bs KUNA 192343 Nov 11NNNN

via كونا : Baghdad bans Turkish plans from landing in Iraq – النقل والإتصالات – 19/11/2011.

November 20, 2011
Turkish Airlines – Istanbul to New York

Turkish Airlines – Istanbul to New York

I should be posting about the Turkish airport and the Turkish Airlines Lounge but because I only spent around an hour at the airport I didn’t really have too much time to explore it. Since I’ll be spending more time at the airport on the return flight, I’ll post about the lounge once I get back to Kuwait. So instead, I’m going to post about the flight from Istanbul to New York.

The total travel time from Istanbul to New York is around 10 hours and 50 minutes and we flew in their Boeing 777-300ER V2. The business class setup on this flight was the latest one which is made up of just 4 rows split up as 2-3-2. One of the first people to greet you once you enter the business class is the chef which kinda sets a level of expectation on the kind of food you’ll be served during the flight. There’s obviously a ton of legroom in business class and it’s needed since the chairs turn into 180 degree flat beds. I wasn’t sure at first if they would be true 180 degree “flat beds” or instead be “lie flats” which are seats that turn flat but are slightly angled. I’ve experienced lie flats on two other airlines and they’re not as easy to sleep in and I always feel like I’m going to slide off them. Thankfully, the Turkish Airlines seats were proper flat beds which made sleeping really cozy.

Since the flight was long we were served two meals, one around an hour after take off while the other around 2 hours before arrival. The chef handled everything related to the food including handing out the menus which I noticed were customized with our names. It’s a little thing but gives the meals a very personal touch. The first meal we started off with were light appetizers which they rolled out on a trolley. You just tell the chef what you want and he’ll fill up your dish for you. Once we were done with the appetizers we were served soup which they only had one option called the traditional Turkish wedding soup. I had it and it tasted kinda like the Lebanese dish called “kebbeh bi laban” and that’s probably because think they both involve the same elements, beef and some sort of creamy sauce. After that we were presented with three options for main course, Swordfish Brochette, Grilled Beef Tournedos or Artichoke Ravioli. I went with the beef, Nat with the fish. She didn’t end up liking her fish much but I loved the beef. Once we were done with lunch they rolled out the dessert trolley which had a lot of different goodies. I was pretty full so I just went with ice cream. For my second meal later on in the flight I had a pasta dish and it was also superb.

The flight was very comfortable and I didn’t have any issues falling asleep on the flat bed. I’m actually not sure how I can fly economy knowing how much more comfortable it is in business. On short flights it’s not as important but when you’ve only slept for 3 hours and you get on board a 10 hour flight, the thought of being able to fall asleep comfortably on a cushy bed is priceless. Actually not priceless, just a lot more expensive than economy. We had large screens in front of us with a ton of movies and tv shows to watch. One disappointing thing was the fact internet access wasn’t active yet and was still “coming soon” according to the message I got on the screen when trying to access it. On the other hand they did have live news feeds available. Power sockets and USB sockets were available of course. If you have a USB stick or hard drive loaded up with movies you can watch them on your seats screen via the USB port. Not sure what movie formats their media player handles but I would be safe and not take any 720p or 1080p movies with me.

There’s an episode of Seinfeld where Jerry and Elaine’s flights get cancelled and they had to rebook on another flight. They end up finding two seats left, one in first class and the another in economy. Jerry explains to Elaine how she should take the economy seat since she’s never flown first and really wouldn’t miss anything but he on the other hand has and so he could no longer fly economy. Well that’s me right now, next time I fly economy I’m going to be thinking about all the cool things I’m missing from business.

via Turkish Airlines – Istanbul to New York – 2:48AM.

November 16, 2011
Turkish Airlines now operates most diverse hub in Europe; 172 destinations served non-stop from Istanbul

To be part of THY’s expansion come and meet and listen to Orhan Sivrikaya, Turkish Airlines’ EVP Commercial, at anna.aero’s Network Planning Conference – “Maximising Your Airport’s Case For Securing New Air Services” – jointly staged with ACI EUROPE and ACI Asia Pacific, and hosted by Abu Dhabi Airports Company, November 28-30 2011. Learn more.

We have decided to go ahead and publish this article, despite today’s news of the tragic earthquake, in recognition of Turkey’s great strides in the face of adversity.

It may not be the biggest carrier in Europe in terms of passenger numbers, fleet size or seat capacity but in one respect Turkish Airlines leads the way. No other carrier in Europe offers as many non-stop destinations from a single airport as Turkish Airlines now does from its Istanbul Atatürk base. This winter, the Turkish national carrier and Star Alliance member will offer non-stop service to 172 destinations, well clear of its nearest rivals Lufthansa (158 destinations non-stop from Frankfurt) and Air France (149 from Paris CDG). Turkish Airlines first passed Lufthansa back in the summer of 2010, but Lufthansa regained the lead in this measure this summer. However, with a recent surge of new route activity, it seems that Turkish Airlines has taken the lead once and for all, unless the opening of the fourth runway at Frankfurt encourages Lufthansa to start adding many more new routes.

Turkish Airlines’ network coverage Comparison with Europe’s biggest flag carriers Destinations served non-stop from main hub airport

Source: OAG Max Online for first week in February and August of each year.

Among Europe’s LCCs, Ryanair’s biggest base at London Stansted offers 94 destinations this winter, easyJet’s London Gatwick base connects non-stop with 68 destinations, and Norwegian’s Oslo base offers 57 non-stop destinations. However, all three of these carriers offer rather more destinations during the peak summer season.

Over 30 million passengers in 2011

Turkish Airlines is well on target to easily pass 30 million passengers in 2011. This represents a trebling of its passenger numbers in just seven years. Since 2003, passenger numbers have grown by at least 10% every year. In the first three quarters of 2011, passenger numbers are up 9.6%, suggesting that double-digit growth is once again possible in 2011, especially given the new routes started this year.

Turkish Airlines 2002-2010 Annual scheduled passengers (millions)

Source: AEA

Statistics published on the airline’s website reveal that in the first nine months of 2011 traffic (as measured by RPKs – Revenue Passenger Kilometres) is up 20%, although there are significant regional variations. Domestic traffic is up just 5% and now represents only 15% of the airline’s total RPKs, but domestic passengers still represent 46% of the airline’s total. Traffic growth has been fastest to North America (+60%) and the Far East (+33%), while European traffic is up just 11%.

20 new destinations added in 2011; London Gatwick is latest addition

Is THY fast becoming the national airline of Iraq?

Is THY fast becoming the national airline of Iraq? THY has cleverly seized the feed opportunities to next-door Iraq. Last week’s latest THY launch, to Mosul in Northern Iraq, is the airline’s sixth Iraqi destination which puts it exactly level with Iraqi Airways itself.

At the beginning of this year, anna.aero examined Turkish Airlines’ network growth in 2009 and 2010. By the end of 2011, some 20 new routes will have been added from Istanbul, the latest to be announced being London Gatwick, which is scheduled to start a few days before Christmas.

Launch date Destination (Code) Country WF* (Aircraft)

6 January Agri (AJI) Turkey 7 (B734)

30 January Guangzhou (CAN) China 3 (B773ER)

3 March Los Angeles (LAX) USA 4 (B773ER)

14 March Shiraz (SYZ) Iran 4 (B738)

27 March Valencia (VLC) Spain 4 (A319)

14 April Erbil (EBL) Iraq 2 (B738)

18 April Toulouse (TLS) France 3 (B738)

27 April Malaga (AGP) Spain 3 (A320)

27 May Thessaloniki (SKG) Greece 4 (A320)

8 June Genoa (GOA) Italy 4 (A319)

28 June Basra (BSR) Iraq 3 (eqv)

28 June Naples (NAP) Italy 5 (A319)

5 July Najaf (NJF) Iraq 3 (B738)

10 July Kabul (KBL) Afghanistan 3 (B738)

18 July Sulaymaniyah (ISU) Iraq 4 (A321)

21 July Islamabad (ISB) Pakistan 3 (B738)

2 August Turin (TRN) Italy 3 (A319)

17 October Dammam (DMM) Saudi Arabia 3 (A319)

3 November Mosul (OSM) Iraq 4 (B738)

20 December London Gatwick (LGW) UK 7 (eqv)

Source: anna.aero new route database

*WF: Weekly Frequency when route was launched

All of these new routes will continue to create ever more connecting possibilities. According to the airline’s latest quarterly presentation, connecting traffic now accounts for 38.5% of the airline’s total traffic, and almost half of all connecting passengers are transferring from one international flight to another. While total transfer traffic in the first nine months of 2011 grew by 15.1%, international to international transfer traffic grew by 18.5%.

via Turkish Airlines now operates most diverse hub in Europe; 172 destinations served non-stop from Istanbul | anna.aero.

November 11, 2011