Hello there Turkish Aviation fans,
Summer is fading away slowly and here we are;
You can find last month's thread here: Turkish Aviation July 2018

Here is TK's first A321NEO:




Few notes to start things with:
-TK got its first A321NEO. It has locally manufactured seats on it. Anyone that had travelled on them and can comment?
So far this TC-LSA has been flying routes mainly under 3 hours; to HAM, MUC, CPH, STR, BRU, GYD, GVA
-Pegasus gets brand new 738s TC-CRE, to be followed byTC-CRF ve TC-CRG.
-SAW gets new addition to its terminal bringing its capacity up to 41M. With this 15% increase in terminal size, expecting 20% pax increase. 2nd runway might be operational by the end of 2020. Subway link to Kadikoy should be ready next year.
-Could anyone else confirm the opening of/ specs of a TK Lounge at BKK?
-News of TK to resume Osaka and go double daily to Tokyo.
-About the new Istanbul airport, we can always count on a.net member “mafaky” for info; “On Oct 30th, 24:00 hrs Ataturk’s IST IATA code will be changed to ISL and Istanbul New Airport will resume the IST IATA code”
-“mafaky” also mentioned that TK rumored to looking to lease its 332Fs. Out of TK's 9 x 332Fs, only TC-JDS hasn’t been flying for 3 weeks, could be maintenance. Any more info on this rumor?
-And finally, TK finished shooting its new ad in Istanbul with the director Ridley Scott and cinematographer Dariusz Wolski and the new face of TK is Slyvia Hoeks, the same team from Blade Runner 2049.

Happy Travels and Safe Landings to all.

Thanks for a new thread. Will be interesting to hear the feedback on the J Class seats .

Any news on the name of the new airport? Will it stay Ataturk?

Wasn’t there rumours speculating that Pegasus would have an all Airbus fleet by 2020?

Indigo mentions IST in new routes planned by April https://www.business-standard.com/artic ... 447_1.html

Can anyone please comment on the third runaway at ESB as to when it will be put into service?TK CEO mentioned that they will come up with a final change for AJet around October so really wondering what is to come?? Feedback appreciated, thanks

Hello everyone.

The latest inhouse IATA magazine has an interview with TK chairman Ilker Ayci.

Some highlights:
o "Full speed ahead" 2018 shaping up to be a record breaking year
o Transition to new airport will be "historic milestone". Will give TK an "utterly new dimension"
o From day 1, the new airport will have 10% more hourly slot capacity than currently at IST will aid with efficiency, ontime performance and customer satisfaction with the existing schedule.
o Once 3rd runway in service by 2020 airport will have 60% additional slots that will allow significant growth
o TK will have the opportunity to significantly grow frequencies and further expand customer hub connectivity options. This will also help reduce cost and improve utilization
o Short term goal by 2023 have fleet 500+ frames - be a top 10 airline in number of ASKs.
o New longhaul fleet (787/350) will allow TK to serve longhaul markets more efficiently than today. Growth focus Americas and Far East
o New generation narrowbodies (NEO/MAX) very flexible. Using narrowbodies TK can reach 60+ countries from IST. TK has chance to connect 40% of globes traffic flow via IST using narrowbodies.
o Eventually, new airport will house the largest MRO center in Europe/Mideast for TK Technic. Will compliment existing modern facilities at SAW which is TK Tehnics main base.
o Anadolujet will be rebranded. Its will see significant strategy change including changes in network. New Ajet will compliment TK mainline and allow group to further grow marketshare. LCC airline part of offering consumer greater product segmentation options.
o Cargo now represents 12% of airline revenues. Expect to grow to 15%+ in next few years. Seek to be top-5 cargo carrier in tonnage by 2025.
o Cargo activity very important for local manufacturing and export industries. Growing number of firms setting up distribution hubs in Turkey and rely on TK network to deliver products
o TK is the most important brand ambassador for Turkey.

=

ankaraflyjet wrote:

Can anyone please comment on the third runaway at ESB as to when it will be put into service?TK CEO mentioned that they will come up with a final change for AJet around October so really wondering what is to come?? Feedback appreciated, thanks

1) That 3rd RWY at ESB is nowhere near to completion, even surfacing. Besides that, ESB is in need of an additional terminal, before a third rwy.
2) AJet: My gutfeel is that they really want to create a totally new LLC Arline having its own AOC but they may be trying to find an outside/off-shore partner (Qataris? Why not???). So if these are workable predictions, an October 2018 decision will be much too early... In any case, by that time, TK will be thoroughly occupied for re-locating at the Istanbul New Airport. I'm aware that, above mentioned is in discrepancy with Ilker Ayci's latest "confessions" to IATA Mag., but frankly I approach all his words with care!... He would make a better politician, rather than a flag-carrier CEO.

The only and latest rumors I have heard about Turkish Cargo, leasing out 332Fs: They have shaken hands with MNG Cargo for 2 frames. But nothing solid yet, no declarations to KAP, etc.

mafaky wrote:

The only and latest rumors I have heard about Turkish Cargo, leasing out 332Fs: They have shaken hands with MNG Cargo for 2 frames. But nothing solid yet, no declarations to KAP, etc.

I really can not understand this action. Cargo is going very well, why leasing out? TK is one of the biggest A330 operators if not the biggest, why a crew shortage?

artofzen wrote:

Indigo mentions IST in new routes planned by April https://www.business-standard.com/artic ... 447_1.html

Great! Once Indian side of the bilateral starts filling up, there is higher likelihood of the bilateral being expanded.

Yakamoz wrote:

mafaky wrote:

The only and latest rumors I have heard about Turkish Cargo, leasing out 332Fs: They have shaken hands with MNG Cargo for 2 frames. But nothing solid yet, no declarations to KAP, etc.

I really can not understand this action. Cargo is going very well, why leasing out? TK is one of the biggest A330 operators if not the biggest, why a crew shortage?

A lot of my TK pilot friends left for greener pastures. Mostly A330 pilots. The devaluation of the Turkish Lira has not done TK any favours. TK is not competitive when it comes to salaries at the moment.

New TK safety video with Legos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar4l-mcrR0I

TK787 wrote:

New TK safety video with Legos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar4l-mcrR0I

Sorry, finally able to find the English version of the safety video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2hCN6cVuqM

Here is a Trip Report, a close friend of mine told me last night;
My friend was flying BJV-IST-FRA and then to the US. TK to IST, LH to the US.
To make the 5:55am LH 1301 IST-FRA, he booked the TK 2531 BJV-IST leaving BJV 2:35am. (over 2 hrs to connect)
Due to some technical mishaps TK2531 left 1:30 late, arriving at IST 5:14am. So he had 40 min to make the connection.
He said Bodrum TK staff would not check his bags to the US, just to IST, so he had to go get his bags and make the 40 min connection with his young kid.
He finally got his two suitcases and kid and ran to the LH counter to find that no one is there any longer. Good thing he had done online checking with LH.
He still wanted to make the flight and decided to take his suitcases through security. It is incredible that he made through with his two big suitcases ( and one with two bottles of Raki inside) without detection of liquids and to the gate.
He said once at the LH gate, all changed for the better and everything went on smoothly. They were flying Business on LH, and it helped that LH 1301 delayed by 20min. LH gate staff was able to take the suitcases and check them to his US destination.
Besides all this; he says LH had superb service on board and unfortunately had pretty negative things to say about TK on the ground, during the delay and not giving any information during the whole ordeal

LAXintl wrote:

o Transition to new airport will be "historic milestone". Will give TK an "utterly new dimension"

Thank you for the summary.

I agree the new airport will indeed be a historic milestone for the airlines development and provide an immense springboard for years to come.

TK787 wrote:

Here is a Trip Report, a close friend of mine told me last night;
My friend was flying BJV-IST-FRA and then to the US. TK to IST, LH to the US.
To make the 5:55am LH 1301 IST-FRA, he booked the TK 2531 BJV-IST leaving BJV 2:35am. (over 2 hrs to connect)
Due to some technical mishaps TK2531 left 1:30 late, arriving at IST 5:14am. So he had 40 min to make the connection.
He said Bodrum TK staff would not check his bags to the US, just to IST, so he had to go get his bags and make the 40 min connection with his young kid.
He finally got his two suitcases and kid and ran to the LH counter to find that no one is there any longer. Good thing he had done online checking with LH.
He still wanted to make the flight and decided to take his suitcases through security. It is incredible that he made through with his two big suitcases ( and one with two bottles of Raki inside) without detection of liquids and to the gate.
He said once at the LH gate, all changed for the better and everything went on smoothly. They were flying Business on LH, and it helped that LH 1301 delayed by 20min. LH gate staff was able to take the suitcases and check them to his US destination.
Besides all this; he says LH had superb service on board and unfortunately had pretty negative things to say about TK on the ground, during the delay and not giving any information during the whole ordeal

That is pretty unfortunate. I fly back on forth between US for a few years now and had mixed experience on luggage connection. If his tickets were not on the same ticket, it is very unlikely that the gate agent will go through the trouble to connect the luggage all the way to the final destination.

TK787 wrote:

New TK safety video with Legos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar4l-mcrR0I

I flew with TK just today and they still had the old safety video.

I just wrapped up a trip with TK on the following aircraft: TC-JYL (73J), TC-JTK (A321), TC-JSO (A321) and TC-JYO (73J). I got JYO today on TK1975, it was delayed by more than an hour and twenty minutes on departure because the captain was late. I have to say, the A321s were definitely more comfortable and quieter than the 739s. TC-JSO was a troublesome aircraft though... the IFE had issues that lasted for an hour. Naturally, I look out the window for entertainment but the windows were dirty and it was night so I couldn't do that either . Unfortunately this was probably my last time passing through Ataturk Airport . FWIW, both JYL and JYO were 100% full (Dublin-Istanbul and vice versa respectively).

Interesting to note, the captains of TC-JYL and TC-JSO were both female. TC-JYL was my first time flying with a female captain.

New surprising route announcements from Turkish Airlines. Cancun, Mexico. Newark, USA. Sharjae, UAE. I wonder what kind of market TK is expecting to fill their Cancun flights with.

http://investor.turkishairlines.com/en/ ... osures-803

I also read somewhere else that TK is starting its flights to Bali in 2019 July, x3 weekly.

1g wrote:

New surprising route announcements from Turkish Airlines. Cancun, Mexico. Newark, USA. Sharjae, UAE. I wonder what kind of market TK is expecting to fill their Cancun flights with.

http://investor.turkishairlines.com/en/ ... osures-803

I also read somewhere else that TK is starting its flights to Bali in 2019 July, x3 weekly.

There's the door left ajar: "subject to market conditions"!

I assume Cancun flights will be in a triangular route. IST-MEX-Cancun-IST.

Bali Denpasar (DPS) may probably be a hopping point on route to Australia. But wonder if TK may obtain any 5th freedom rights between DPS and SYD/MEL. I also think these flights may start with 77Ws but eventually will switch to newcoming 789s.

Newark is probably the wise choice; a biggish Turkish community in the area and near hinterland. A daily 333 flight may be well loaded.

Well this is unexpected.
I wonder if TK is hoping to get UA connecting pax at EWR? I doubt this is for the Turkish community. Less and less Turks flying on TK to Turkey and the number of Turks filling the seats will not change, be it JFK or EWR. I mean Turks living in NJ does not necessarily choose EWR because it is more convenient. Price and schedule will still play a bigger role.
It does not make sense to split NY operations either, for TK. Is it cheaper to fly out of EWR? JFK doesn't have any room to grow?

I would have to imagine that TK wants to fly to EWR for the more convenient transfers with UA. Probably a bigger incentive than the Turkish community living in NJ, I doubt we would see more of the Turkish communities flying with TK just because TK started flights from EWR.

Also could be that they just want to expand their presence in the NY metropolitan area and starting EWR was easier than adding a fourth flight to JFK.

1g wrote:

Also could be that they just want to expand their presence in the NY metropolitan area and starting EWR was easier than adding a fourth flight to JFK.

I flew JFK-IST roundtrip 5 times already this year and see the need for a 4th flight. But wouldn't it be easier to use the same gates/agents/cargo facilities/tech/crew facilities/hotels and even a future JFK TK Lounge under one roof? Now they have to duplicate everything at EWR, by the way to me a far more congested and problematic airport than JFK. And to fill 300 seats on that EWR-IST flight daily, how many of those pax will be a mere pax giving up seats at JFK?
Let's say TK starts EWR-IST with a 332 daily. Where are those 250 pax will be coming from? It could be that most of them will be the usual TK2, TK4 and TK12 pax. So, JFK flights might have to find more transfer pax to India, Russia, Israel and Africa destinations.
For me personally, I should be happy that I will have another daily nonstop to choose from but I am trying to make sense of EWR instead of JFK.

TK787 wrote:

1g wrote:

Also could be that they just want to expand their presence in the NY metropolitan area and starting EWR was easier than adding a fourth flight to JFK
I flew JFK-IST roundtrip 5 times already this year and see the need for a 4th flight. But wouldn't it be easier to use the same gates/agents/cargo facilities/tech/crew facilities/hotels and even a future JFK TK Lounge under one roof? Now they have to duplicate everything at EWR, by the way to me a far more congested and problematic airport than JFK. And to fill 300 seats on that EWR-IST flight daily, how many of those pax will be a mere pax giving up seats at JFK?

Quite a few foreign carriers serve both EWR & JFK. Probably a wise choice for TK.

EI, CA, AI, OS, AV, BA, CX, LY, FI, EK, LO, DY, SQ, LX, TP, VS, VB, WW & now we can add TK to the list.

What is the possibility that TK move 1 daily JFK to EWR instead of 4 daily New York (JFK/EWR)?

TK787 wrote:

1g wrote:

Also could be that they just want to expand their presence in the NY metropolitan area and starting EWR was easier than adding a fourth flight to JFK.

I flew JFK-IST roundtrip 5 times already this year and see the need for a 4th flight. But wouldn't it be easier to use the same gates/agents/cargo facilities/tech/crew facilities/hotels and even a future JFK TK Lounge under one roof? Now they have to duplicate everything at EWR, by the way to me a far more congested and problematic airport than JFK. And to fill 300 seats on that EWR-IST flight daily, how many of those pax will be a mere pax giving up seats at JFK?
Let's say TK starts EWR-IST with a 332 daily. Where are those 250 pax will be coming from? It could be that most of them will be the usual TK2, TK4 and TK12 pax. So, JFK flights might have to find more transfer pax to India, Russia, Israel and Africa destinations.
For me personally, I should be happy that I will have another daily nonstop to choose from but I am trying to make sense of EWR instead of JFK.

Some of the EWR catchment area isn't shared with JFK, while much is.

For passengers who were at JFK going via EWR, one would expect a yield improvement. Perhaps the current flight needed to be upgauged and since TK hasn't yet bought the 779, this is their solution. Perhaps they needed more J seats?

It could be the available JFK times were not when premium passengers want to fly.

For one flight, they will rent/outsource. TK is growing, which means new passengers.

No one likes to cross Manhattan if it can be avoided.

Lightsaber

Looks like the 737 MAX inaugural for TK was postponed... TC-JVG (a normal 73H) operated the Edinburgh route yesterday, the day scheduled to be the inaugural.

mafaky wrote:

Bali Denpasar (DPS) may probably be a hopping point on route to Australia. But wonder if TK may obtain any 5th freedom rights between DPS and SYD/MEL. I also think these flights may start with 77Ws but eventually will switch to newcoming 789s.

.

Its 333 AFAIK.

It looks like TK is quietly launching an additional daily frequency to Khartoum from Istanbul in addition to the existing TK680/TK681 for S19.

Flight: TK1431 (former flight number of the Rotterdam flight)
Departure: 01:20 (+3 GMT)
Arrival: 04:35 (+2 GMT)
Equipment: A320

Layover: 55 minutes

Flight: TK1432 (former flight number of the Rotterdam flight)
Departure: 05:30 (+2 GMT)
Arrival: 10:45 (+3 GMT)
Equipment: A320

AirbusA343 wrote:

It looks like TK is quietly launching an additional daily frequency to Khartoum from Istanbul in addition to the existing TK680/TK681 for S19.

Flight: TK1431 (former flight number of the Rotterdam flight)
Departure: 01:20 (+3 GMT)
Arrival: 04:35 (+2 GMT)
Equipment: A320

Layover: 55 minutes

Flight: TK1432 (former flight number of the Rotterdam flight)
Departure: 05:30 (+2 GMT)
Arrival: 10:45 (+3 GMT)
Equipment: A320

To what flights does this connect to? Is TK trying to develop a new bank of departures? Lots of new Balkan flights that were added in recent times seem to depart IST at around noon.

To the extent TK is looking to feed its new flight with interline connecting traffic on UA (not sure if the codeshare relationship will expand), EWR is still significantly better for this purpose than JFK.

With that said, the local IST market is large and TK flows a lot of traffic over IST to/from JFK as a terminus, so connecting traffic over NYC is less important.

Blerg wrote:

AirbusA343 wrote:

It looks like TK is quietly launching an additional daily frequency to Khartoum from Istanbul in addition to the existing TK680/TK681 for S19.

Flight: TK1431 (former flight number of the Rotterdam flight)
Departure: 01:20 (+3 GMT)
Arrival: 04:35 (+2 GMT)
Equipment: A320

Layover: 55 minutes

Flight: TK1432 (former flight number of the Rotterdam flight)
Departure: 05:30 (+2 GMT)
Arrival: 10:45 (+3 GMT)
Equipment: A320

To what flights does this connect to? Is TK trying to develop a new bank of departures? Lots of new Balkan flights that were added in recent times seem to depart IST at around noon.

I'm not sure to be honest. It definitely does connect well with the new Balkan flights along with existing departures around noon. I'm not sure if they intentionally want to create a new bank of departures or not.

Is LH dropping their MUC-ADB route in the winter? They have been operating it year round for awhile, surprised to see I can't book tickets after late October.
I need to get from BRU to ADB in November and don't wanna transfer in IST within weeks of the airport move, I guess I have to go with PC

mict wrote:

Is LH dropping their MUC-ADB route in the winter? They have been operating it year round for awhile, surprised to see I can't book tickets after late October.
I need to get from BRU to ADB in November and don't wanna transfer in IST within weeks of the airport move, I guess I have to go with PC

What date are you going? I tried LH for November and even December and it worked.

AirbusA343 wrote:

mict wrote:

Is LH dropping their MUC-ADB route in the winter? They have been operating it year round for awhile, surprised to see I can't book tickets after late October.
I need to get from BRU to ADB in November and don't wanna transfer in IST within weeks of the airport move, I guess I have to go with PC

What date are you going? I tried LH for November and even December and it worked.

Weird, I tried Google Flights and LH's website and can't find any flights between November and March:

There are no flights or fares available for the dates you have selected. Please choose another date and try again. (66002 - 931)

LH to ADB switched to summer seasonal only service two years ago. No flights in winter. Don't know what you did find, but surely not LH...

TK announced IST DPS from July 2019:

TK066 IST DPS 0120 1930
TK067 DPS IST 2100 0520+1

Initially to be flows thrice weekly, but soon thereafter, in August, going daily.

This flight has been announced as A333, but at 6400 miles that surely seems longish. Could this be A332 or is this just a placeholder for some new machinery that is bound to arrive before the start of that flight?

stylo777 wrote:

LH to ADB switched to summer seasonal only service two years ago. No flights in winter. Don't know what you did find, but surely not LH...

Sorry I read that as ESB so I found flights to Ankara rather than Izmir.

HB-IWC wrote:

TK announced IST DPS from July 2019:

TK066 IST DPS 0120 1930
TK067 DPS IST 2100 0520+1

Initially to be flows thrice weekly, but soon thereafter, in August, going daily.

This flight has been announced as A333, but at 6400 miles that surely seems longish. Could this be A332 or is this just a placeholder for some new machinery that is bound to arrive before the start of that flight?

A333 can take a small weight penalty and still make that flight. Also, if the route is pax heavy and has light cargo loads, then A333 can take the penalty in terms of unused cargo loads and easily make that flight.

I don't know if this is true but one TK and one Atlas pilot had a go with each other over the radio at Ataturk Airport.

There was some confusion or mistep by one of the airplanes and pilots argued who crossed the line or not, at the end one of them asked to meet at the gate ( to probably argue in a more civilzed manner)

http://www.airporthaber.com/havacilik-h ... selim.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQZ_dP_hvnc

anyone can confirm if this is true or not? for English speakers sorry there is no subs for the video yet

TK787 wrote:

1g wrote:

Also could be that they just want to expand their presence in the NY metropolitan area and starting EWR was easier than adding a fourth flight to JFK.

I flew JFK-IST roundtrip 5 times already this year and see the need for a 4th flight. But wouldn't it be easier to use the same gates/agents/cargo facilities/tech/crew facilities/hotels and even a future JFK TK Lounge under one roof? Now they have to duplicate everything at EWR, by the way to me a far more congested and problematic airport than JFK. And to fill 300 seats on that EWR-IST flight daily, how many of those pax will be a mere pax giving up seats at JFK?
Let's say TK starts EWR-IST with a 332 daily. Where are those 250 pax will be coming from? It could be that most of them will be the usual TK2, TK4 and TK12 pax. So, JFK flights might have to find more transfer pax to India, Russia, Israel and Africa destinations.
For me personally, I should be happy that I will have another daily nonstop to choose from but I am trying to make sense of EWR instead of JFK.

Look at TK787 a loyal IST-JFK flier defending his route:) I would do the same however I don't think EWR is a bad idea, remember TK not going after Turkish diaspora anymore, the Indian community,TLV connection pax, and the J fliers to oil rich nations will love the EWR flight, if I still lived in Tribeca I for sure would take EWR over JFK (even though I hated the airport) I do see your point though use economies of scale catering, staff etc and especially the lounge(if it ever opens) I think its a smart move for TK. I think they will use 333 and be successful.

Does anyone know why TC-JIV has been re-registered as TC-LOH?

AirbusA343 wrote:

Does anyone know why TC-JIV has been re-registered as TC-LOH?

TC-JIV was sub-leased by TK to Nordwind Airlines and received a Russian Registration. Later it was returned to TK (recently), so it had to be re-registered and therefore received the TC-LOH registration.

Similarly, its sister ex-TC-JIY will be re-entering TK fleet, and will be re-registered as TC-LOI.

Got some market share statistics for Turkish airports as of Q3 based on average daily seat capacity

IST
1. TK - 87%
2. 8Q - 3%
3. KK - 3%
(largest foreign airline at IST is Saudia based on seats offered)

SAW
1. PC - 59%
2. TK - 32%
3. XQ - 6%

ESB
1. TK - 58%
2. PC - 20%
3. XQ - 18%

ADB
1. PC - 33%
2. XQ - 32%
3. TK - 27%

AYT
1. XQ - 21%
2. TK - 19%
3. PC - 17%

ADA
1. PC - 41%
2. TK - 29%
3. XQ - 18%

DLM
1. TK - 28%
2. PC - 23%
3. MT - 17%

Thanks "LAXintl",
Some interesting numbers there.
What do you think come next summer when the new airport has more room to grow for TK? Will TK add more capacity to SAW or to IST?

Well TK surely will continue to grow but with easing of slot constraints it will also allow others like KK and 8Q an opportunity as well.
Another big questions is will PC set up a base at the airport? I know they have had meetings including even reviewing office leases, but to my knowledge they have not pulled the trigger yet.
Regardless TK will obviously continue to dominate the airport.

Thanks for sharing the stats.
Quite surprising for me is actually the performance of XQ. Never saw them so strong throughout all markets. I would jave thought that especially KK/8Q would be stronger in some places, but I'm obviously wrong.

What do you all think will happen to SAW once the new IST is operational?

Will Ataturk remain open?

Will TK move all ops to new IST?

Will Pegasus start to dominate SAW?

Interesting dimensions

jani13 wrote:

What do you all think will happen to SAW once the new IST is operational?

Will Ataturk remain open?

Will TK move all ops to new IST?

Will Pegasus start to dominate SAW?

Interesting dimensions

SAW will remain open.
Ataturk will remain as the cargo and general aviation hub for a while.
TK will move all passenger operations to the new IST, cargo ops to remain in Ataturk for a while. They also have a small hub at SAW, that will remain as far as I know.
PGS is already the dominant carrier at SAW.

Turkey Crisis Deepens as Sanctions Threat Sends Lira to Low

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-06/turkey-crisis-deepens-as-sanctions-threat-sends-lira-to-new-low

The Turkish Lira has hit another record low versus the US dollar and Euro. This can hardly be good for Turkish Airlines and Turkish aviation in general?