THY vows to increase Ercan flights, reduce ticket prices
TURKISH Airlines has promised to increase flights to and from Ercan airport in a bid to boost supply in line with demand and thus reduce the cost of travel, according to the Cyprus Turkish Travel Agents’ Union (Kıtsab).
Kıtsab chairman Erkan Kilim said the pledge had come about during talks with Turkish Airlines (THY) officials at London’s World Travel Market in November, but action had yet to materialise. However he believed extra flights would probably begin in June.
Mr Kilim said the other airlines serving Ercan airport also needed to increase their flight programme to and from North Cyprus, since, “at the moment we just have Turkish Airlines, Atlasglobal and Pegasus . . . and only [the first two] fly to [İstanbul’s] Atatürk airport.” He added: “Taxes at Ercan are also higher than those at İstanbul Atatürk, which is an extra problem.”
Earlier, in a joint statement, Kıtsab and the Cyprus Turkish Hoteliers’ Union (Kıtob) said expensive air travel from Ercan could only be ended with the introduction of more flights or by having additional airlines operating from the airport.
“Because the demand for flights is high and supply inadequate, ticket prices are too high, so an increase in the number of flights would therefore make them more economic,” said Kıtob chairman Fethi Boğaç. “High ticket prices are causing damage to our tourism industry.” “Tourism is a three-stage process; the first stage is promotion, the second a reasonable cost of transport and the third hosting tourists.
“As far as hosting is concerned, we are OK, but we have problems relating to the environment, transport and promotion which need to be solved.”
The unions’ comments came after a local travel agent said last week he would lodge an official complaint with the Competition Board over high prices for flights from Ercan airport which he said were “almost imprisoning people in the TRNC”.
Polatkan Tourism owner Ali Polatkan described the three airlines currently operating from Ercan as “merciless” because of annual deals struck with large casino hotels which, he claimed, prevented competition.
He said he had taken the issue to Kıtsab but “because those who are buying the tickets are on the association board, they were indifferent”.