Istanbul eyes becoming a hub of global travel
The Turkish Airlines Corporate Club Conference brought together thought leaders and experts from the global travel industry.
The fourth edition of the Turkish Airlines Corporate Club Conference at Istanbul on 8 October became the meeting point of titans of the global travel industry.
Decision makers of the world travel sector arrived here to chart out the future course of the burgeoning industry. Over 1,200 travel professionals from 75 countries met in Istanbul to celebrate this year’s theme “10 years of Turkish Airlines Corporate Club” as the airline enters a new era from its new home at Istanbul Airport, the world’s biggest airport terminal built from scratch.
M. Ilker Aycı, Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and Executive Committee, opened the conference, which was moderated by BBC Hard Talk’s Aaron Heslehurst. The programme featured leading figures in the travel industry, including keynote speaker Celeste Headlee, an award-winning journalist and bestselling author, as well as Global Business Travel Association’s (GBTA) Melanie Garrett, among others. The Turkish Airlines Corporate Club Conference brought together thought leaders and experts from the travel industry to discuss, debate and network.
This year has seen Turkish Airlines enter a new chapter in its history as a global airline. The flag carrier moved to its new home at Istanbul Airport in April 2019 during a huge operation dubbed “The Great Move”. The brand new Turkish Airlines hub will have an annual capacity of 200 million passengers upon final completion, cutting-edge features and increased facilities that will offer huge potential for the airline’s operations.
The Turkish Airlines Corporate Club is dedicated to serving the best of Turkish hospitality to its corporate customers and is committed to offering a range of advantages through its loyalty programme. Appreciating that time is of the utmost importance to its guests, the Turkish Airlines Corporate Club provides maximum flexibility of ticket booking, use of Istanbul Airport’s exclusive lounges and pre-boarding advantages such as a generous baggage allowance. Once onboard, valued members are invited to enjoy excellent products and services. Business Class guests have exclusive use of flatbeds to stay refreshed, free Wifi to stay connected and Flying Chefs who serve top class catering.
Established in 1933 with a fleet of five aircraft, Star Alliance member Turkish Airlines has a fleet of 339 (passengers and cargo) aircraft flying to 316 worldwide destinations as 266 international and 50 domestic, in 125 countries.
With one of the youngest fleets in Europe, Turkish Airlines is on track to building a fleet of 400 by 2021 with the arrival of six 787-9 Dreamliners this year, allowing the global airline to further expand its network. New destinations launched in 2019 include Sharjah, Marrakesh, Port Harcourt, Bali, Pointe-noire, Luxor and Mexico City with a Rovaniemi route to be launched in December. NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached immovable properties worth Rs 4,025.23 crore of Bhushan Power and Steel Limited (BPSL) in a money laundering case against the firm for siphoning off funds obtained as loans from various banks and financial institutions, the agency said on Saturday. The attached assets include land, building, plant and machinery of BPSL in Odisha.
“The quantification of the Rs 4,025.23 crore attached assets is interim as of now and investigations to identify further proceeds of crime are under progress,” the ED said.
Investigations conducted under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) revealed that BPSL had used various modus operandi to siphon off funds obtained as loans from various banks and financial institutions, said the ED, adding an amount of Rs 695.14 crore was introduced as capital by Sanjay Singal and his family members in BPSL out of artificially generated Long Term Capital Gains (LTCG) by diversion of bank loans fund of BPSL. LTCG was exempted from Income Tax during the relevant time, said the agency.
“BPSL had made payments to various entities by way of RTGS against fictitious purchases of capital goods. In lieu of the RTGS payments, these entities had transferred cash to BPSL which was ultimately traced to have been used for generation of artificial LTCG by jacking up the prices of penny stocks by way of synchronized trading.”
Another amount of Rs 3,330.09 crore invested as equity (share capital and premium) by promoter companies was also found to have been routed out of the funds obtained as various loans from banks diverted from accounts of BPSL in the shape of advances shown to various shell companies operated by the different entry operators, said the agency.