This turkey can fly

While most European airlines are still licking their wounds after the pandemic, Turkish Airlines has gone all in with a huge investment in its fleet and infrastructure that has transformed Istanbul airport into the busiest in the region by flight numbers.

Taking a leaf out of the playbook of Emirates and Qatar Airways, it has become a major regional hub, flying to more passenger destinations and more countries than any other airline, and shaking off its bad reputation for service and safety.

Local demand has surged as the country’s developing economy drives a burgeoning middle class, and Türkiye’s tourist industry has been growing rapidly as its collapsing currency makes the kebab ever better value. Tourism revenues are forecast to rise from $54bn in 2023 to $60bn this year, and to service the demand Turkish Airlines placed an order in December for more than 200 planes from Airbus. Even before this expansion, the airline’s available seat kilometres in 2023 were 25% higher than in prepandemic 2019, compared with a 5.6% decline across the industry.

There are certainly commercial advantages to having a hardline president backing your growth strategy, and Turkish Airlines doesn’t seem overly concerned with all the pesky environmental and noise legislation the EU is imposing. While a rival such as Heathrow Airport has been trying and failing to get approval for a third runway for decades, Istanbul airport is planning to expand from an annual passenger capacity of 90-million to 200-million once all phases are completed.

Despite geopolitical rumblings in the region and the cancellation of flights to Israel, the growth story will continue.

There are commercial advantages to having a hardline president backing your growth strategy