I thought the Ottomans era is prohibited since 1923 (not allowed to use the Ottoman Sultans on public buildings), as all the imperial family was kicked out and revoked Turkish Nationality... as for Abdul’Hamid Khan , I beilve that will put Turkey in some issue with The Armenians & Israel , so as said the best of all is Istanbul International Airport..

No such prohibition ever existed. We’ve had FSM (Mehmed the conqueror) Bridge for over two decades. But of course there’s an increase in the use of names of sultans of late.

So apparently the vip 748 of the Qatari emir went to the Turkish government.

Still trying to figure out why the officials need 3 widebody planes besides all those "little" ones.

stylo777 wrote:

So apparently the vip 748 of the Qatari emir went to the Turkish government.

Still trying to figure out why the officials need 3 widebody planes besides all those "little" ones.

What the hell??? Where did you get this news? Reliable source or just rumoring? (However, i's a known fact that one of the three Emiri's 748s, is for sale!)

mafaky wrote:

stylo777 wrote:

So apparently the vip 748 of the Qatari emir went to the Turkish government.

Still trying to figure out why the officials need 3 widebody planes besides all those "little" ones.

What the hell??? Where did you get this news? Reliable source or just rumoring? (However, i's a known fact that one of the three Emiri's 748s, is for sale!)

Don't know how reliable the info is since there aren't sources given in the article.
It's in Turkish only...
http://www.airturkhaber.com/haberler/de ... 8-geliyor/

TK105 wrote:

gokmengs wrote:

throw a ridiculous option gauge reaction then throw the second option which wasn’t favorable but its better than the first rumor.

If this is the idea, I can propose “better” names such as
Sultan Vahdettin
Damat Ferit Pasa
even
Ali Kemal Bey (grand father of Boris Johnson)

Instead of following this way, I think better to make a public survey. Or simply as proposed by aldrigsomandre, they can give a name like Eurasia Intercontinental Airport, which will be warm to everybody, including abroad travelers.

I get your point, but I am sure you got mine as well, I can give numerous examples of this method being used and I'm sure you know it too.

stylo777 wrote:

So apparently the vip 748 of the Qatari emir went to the Turkish government.

Still trying to figure out why the officials need 3 widebody planes besides all those "little" ones.

I find this rumor very hard to believe as there is big economical crisis and the government is openly talking about cutting spending (talking about cutting purchases for officials cars etc) but then again they are building a summer palace near Gocek, so who knows.... I would be very surprised and I think there would be a big and I mean big negative reaction given the economic situation, and it would only be reported by very few news outlets. Care to share your source or more details about this rumor please?

stylo777 wrote:

mafaky wrote:

stylo777 wrote:

So apparently the vip 748 of the Qatari emir went to the Turkish government.

Still trying to figure out why the officials need 3 widebody planes besides all those "little" ones.

What the hell??? Where did you get this news? Reliable source or just rumoring? (However, i's a known fact that one of the three Emiri's 748s, is for sale!)

Don't know how reliable the info is since there aren't sources given in the article.
It's in Turkish only...
http://www.airturkhaber.com/haberler/de ... 8-geliyor/

sorry saw your link after my reply, and all i can say is wow.

Do&Co gets the contract to serve BA out of LHR for 10 years starting April 2020;
http://www.kokpit.aero/doco-ingiliz-hav ... ni-yapacak (Turkish Only)

TK787 wrote:

Do&Co gets the contract to serve BA out of LHR for 10 years starting April 2020;
http://www.kokpit.aero/doco-ingiliz-hav ... ni-yapacak (Turkish Only)

Now also, IB out of MAD for 10 years starting May 2020.

TK787 wrote:

Do&Co gets the contract to serve BA out of LHR for 10 years starting April 2020;
http://www.kokpit.aero/doco-ingiliz-hav ... ni-yapacak (Turkish Only)

Wow that's great, BA's catering in premium cabins is probably the worst I have tried. This should be a big step up.

Is there anything wrong in Istanbul today? TK flights are being very severely delayed, lots of flights delayed by 1-5 hours today. Flightradar is giving them a 5.0 departure delay rating, which is the worst possible rating. Is it the rain storms?

AirbusA343 wrote:

Is there anything wrong in Istanbul today? TK flights are being very severely delayed, lots of flights delayed by 1-5 hours today. Flightradar is giving them a 5.0 departure delay rating, which is the worst possible rating. Is it the rain storms?

Heavy rain and flooding in Istanbul today. Its even on the European news

Here is link from English edition of Turkish paper
https://www.dailysabah.com/istanbul/201 ... nd-drivers

mict wrote:

Wow that's great, BA's catering in premium cabins is probably the worst I have tried. This should be a big step up.

Virtually any caterer can make anything. It comes down to an airlines spec and budget.
While Do&Co has its own concepts like flying chef, its up to the individual airlines to designate and pay for the menu and product they want.

THY748i wrote:

AYT: DOM: 747.701, -1.8 %; INT: 4.091.391, +18.3 %; TOTAL: 4.839.092, +14,7 %

Is this Antalya's best month ever or still below 2014's numbers?

B748 VQ-BSK landed at SAW today. Looks like the rumors true.

https://www.ausbt.com.au/turkish-airlin ... ource=hero

New WB Biz class seats are under development. 1-2-1 with a possibility of sliding doors. Exciting development indeed.

aldrigsomandre wrote:

https://www.ausbt.com.au/turkish-airlines-all-new-business-class-for-boeing-787-airbus-350?utm_source=hero

New WB Biz class seats are under development. 1-2-1 with a possibility of sliding doors. Exciting development indeed.

Wow!!! Where did this just come from? Didn't we just hear the news that the TK 789s will have 30J 270Y seats?

TK787 wrote:

aldrigsomandre wrote:

https://www.ausbt.com.au/turkish-airlines-all-new-business-class-for-boeing-787-airbus-350?utm_source=hero

New WB Biz class seats are under development. 1-2-1 with a possibility of sliding doors. Exciting development indeed.

Wow!!! Where did this just come from? Didn't we just hear the news that the TK 789s will have 30J 270Y seats?

Indeed, but I think plans may have changed. AusBT is a reliable news source. They are in direct contact with many aviation industry executives. So, I think it's legit.

Its been known TK has been working on a new biz seat for 2+ years now. There were many design alternatives and long lead times for production.
I know they hoped to have something this year, but like all these type of projects, things get delayed. Sounds like they are confident enough to have the product by mid 2019 then.

MoonC wrote:

B748 VQ-BSK landed at SAW today. Looks like the rumors true.

Well, it is there and parked near the TK Technic. Let's see what happens now.

LAXintl wrote:

Its been known TK has been working on a new biz seat for 2+ years now.

I've been pretty happy with the 2-2-2 and the 2-3-2 layout on TK. When I travel by myself, I always get the middle section aisle seat. And when travelling with a companian we get the adjoining window and the aisle set.
If these are the seats as suggested, I don't like the leg space, and I don't like the barrier between the two seats in the middle section. What do you guys think?
https://thepointsguy.com/reviews/qantas ... ess-class/

[photoid][/photoid]As expected, TK's new uniforms.... Mostly RED
http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/foto/foto_ ... alari.html
and few more photos here:
https://www.facebook.com/turkishairline ... =3&theater

I just don't like the use of too much RED but, after all; it could have been worse.
I like the cut, the fit, nicely tailored, easy on the eyes, classy.
I really like the hats, gloves, bags and the shoes and the pants for the women FA's, I hope they are allowed to wear the pants on board.
Also the diamond shaped texture of the material is nice.
Questionable locations for the photo shoot. Why always try to do two things at once? Promote uniforms and Istanbul at the same time?
They should have used a very subtle/simple backdrop so the eyes will ONLY go to the uniforms, NOT putting them in front of different colors of spices or tiles.
In advertising we call this "Too Many Notes Amadeus". Keep the message simple, especially when introducing new uniforms in a decade.
Also whose great idea is to portray TK FA's walking DOWN at a steep angle, as in; a plane "going down"? These are pretty basic rules in photography.

TK787 wrote:

MoonC wrote:

B748 VQ-BSK landed at SAW today. Looks like the rumors true.

Well, it is there and parked near the TK Technic. Let's see what happens now.

Well apparently this looks like a false flag! That frame is not one of the 3 748 (BBJ) of the Qatari Amiri Flight. Qatari ones are all registered under A7 country code and this one at SAW is a VQ-B, indicating a Bermuda registration.

See: https://www.planespotters.net/airframe/ ... g/dLdKIaLL

However, there's still some co-incidence: One of Qatar Amiri 748s has been under storage at BSL since Dec. 2017 (supposedly for cabin outfitting) and his one at SAW has also arrived from BSL (but was also stored here since mid-March 2018).

mafaky wrote:

TK787 wrote:

MoonC wrote:

B748 VQ-BSK landed at SAW today. Looks like the rumors true.

Well, it is there and parked near the TK Technic. Let's see what happens now.

Well apparently this looks like a false flag! That frame is not one of the 3 748 (BBJ) of the Qatari Amiri Flight. Qatari ones are all registered under A7 country code and this one at SAW is a VQ-B, indicating a Bermuda registration.

See: https://www.planespotters.net/airframe/ ... g/dLdKIaLL

However, there's still some co-incidence: One of Qatar Amiri 748s has been under storage at BSL since Dec. 2017 (supposedly for cabin outfitting) and his one at SAW has also arrived from BSL.

The Qatari Amiri aircraft was stored at BSL and was for sale for a long time. This happens to be another frame? I'm confused. What is a VIP 748 doing at SAW? Reports were saying arrival on Tuesday or Wednesday so everything checked. I am pretty certain this is for the Turkish Government, it will serve as the new plane for RTE.

gokmengs wrote:

mafaky wrote:

Well apparently this looks like a false flag! That frame is not one of the 3 748 (BBJ) of the Qatari Amiri Flight. Qatari ones are all registered under A7 country code and this one at SAW is a VQ-B, indicating a Bermuda registration.

See: https://www.planespotters.net/airframe/ ... g/dLdKIaLL

However, there's still some co-incidence: One of Qatar Amiri 748s has been under storage at BSL since Dec. 2017 (supposedly for cabin outfitting) and his one at SAW has also arrived from BSL.

The Qatari Amiri aircraft was stored at BSL and was for sale for a long time. This happens to be another frame? I'm confused. What is a VIP 748 doing at SAW? Reports were saying arrival on Tuesday or Wednesday so everything checked. I am pretty certain this is for the Turkish Government, it will serve as the new plane for RTE.

Well the current day 748 at SAW is definitely not the Qatar Amiri 748. Looks like it belongs to some phony private company. You never know, the day hasn't ended. Maybe a Qatari 748 will also show up at SAW today!

TK787 wrote:

LAXintl wrote:

Its been known TK has been working on a new biz seat for 2+ years now.

I've been pretty happy with the 2-2-2 and the 2-3-2 layout on TK. When I travel by myself, I always get the middle section aisle seat. And when travelling with a companian we get the adjoining window and the aisle set.
If these are the seats as suggested, I don't like the leg space, and I don't like the barrier between the two seats in the middle section. What do you guys think?
https://thepointsguy.com/reviews/qantas ... ess-class/

Have a look at this link, folks:

https://airlines.einnews.com/article_de ... nt=article

Well, I'm indeed surprised to learn that TK will finally go to 1-2-1 configuration in the business cabin.

Maybe/hopefully they will start replacing the business seats in the existing 332s (the 5 frames owned by TK, only...), some or all the 333s (except the ex-Skymark ones and the TC-JOM) and the 30 77Ws (excluding the ex-Kenyan ones...) with TSI made business seats if these can get certified pretty soon.

mafaky wrote:

TK787 wrote:

LAXintl wrote:

Its been known TK has been working on a new biz seat for 2+ years now.

I've been pretty happy with the 2-2-2 and the 2-3-2 layout on TK. When I travel by myself, I always get the middle section aisle seat. And when travelling with a companian we get the adjoining window and the aisle set.
If these are the seats as suggested, I don't like the leg space, and I don't like the barrier between the two seats in the middle section. What do you guys think?
https://thepointsguy.com/reviews/qantas ... ess-class/

Have a look at this link, folks:

https://airlines.einnews.com/article_de ... nt=article

Well, I'm indeed surprised to learn that TK will finally go to 1-2-1 configuration in the business cabin.

Maybe/hopefully they will start replacing the business seats in the existing 332s (the 5 frames owned by TK, only...), some or all the 333s (except the ex-Skymark ones and the TC-JOM) and the 30 77Ws (excluding the ex-Kenyan ones...) with TSI made business seats if these can get certified pretty soon.

I hope they do not make mileage upgrades more difficult to get. In the following link, it is stated that current aircraft will not be retrofitted with the new seats:

https://www.ausbt.com.au/turkish-airlin ... airbus-350

mafaky wrote:

TK787 wrote:

MoonC wrote:

B748 VQ-BSK landed at SAW today. Looks like the rumors true.

Well, it is there and parked near the TK Technic. Let's see what happens now.

Well apparently this looks like a false flag! That frame is not one of the 3 748 (BBJ) of the Qatari Amiri Flight. Qatari ones are all registered under A7 country code and this one at SAW is a VQ-B, indicating a Bermuda registration.

See: https://www.planespotters.net/airframe/ ... g/dLdKIaLL

However, there's still some co-incidence: One of Qatar Amiri 748s has been under storage at BSL since Dec. 2017 (supposedly for cabin outfitting) and his one at SAW has also arrived from BSL (but was also stored here since mid-March 2018).

VQ-BSK belongs to Worldwide Aircraft Holding which flies ex members of Qatar Government no longer working for the Government. VQ-BSK was for sale so it is very probable Turkish Government bought this bird now.

The saga continues. This article says 748 VIP was a gift from the Amir of Qatar to Turkish Government:
http://www.airporthaber.com/havacilik-h ... -7478.html (In Turkish Only)

Yakamoz wrote:

VQ-BSK belongs to Worldwide Aircraft Holding which flies ex members of Qatar Government no longer working for the Government. VQ-BSK was for sale so it is very probable Turkish Government bought this bird now.

Tried to do a bit more research. This Worldwide Aircraft Holdings is a Bermuda registered company, which in tun seems to belong to two Guernsey based off-shore companies which are also claimed to be of Qatari origin. The Company owns/operates (operated) only this particular frame, mostly out of Bournemouth/UK. It's claimed that it logged only 436 hrs. of flight and 200 cycles. And guess what more?

See: viewtopic.php?t=588279

VQ-BSK was owned by Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, father of the ex-Emir of Qatar and Grandfather of the current one.
He was deposed years ago and lived in exile in Zurich Switzerland until his death, first owning 747SP VP-BAT, then replacing it with VQ-BSK.
A short while after his death, VQ-BSK was sent to BSL for storage as it awaited a new customer.

As mafaky noted above, it had very low utilization as it mostly sat in BOH (the jet's base) and ZRH.

747SP VP-BAT is also in sale. It was said to be used to Khalifa's daughter who studied in the UK.

The royal family connections are obviously there.


Edit: This was the only Qatari owned 747-8BBJ in sale. It's obviously this one.
I know some news agency showed another one with grey/red lines but that one is not on sale, reg. is A7-HBJ, actively flying, belongs to ex-Prime Minister of Qatar.

Surely I can't be on my own in thinking that the 737 MAX looks pretty bad in TK's livery. The winglets look pretty horrible in TK's livery and I'm not a fan of the huge TC-LCA sticker at the rear. (which isn't in its usual place)

Not sure if this is already posted regarding Turkish Airlines new uniforms. Saw this on the website linked below. Link to more pics within the article.

https://airwaysmag.com/airlines/turkish ... orms-2018/

With the Dreamliners and the new uniforms a future trip of TK is in order!!

SCQ83 wrote:

THY748i wrote:

AYT: DOM: 747.701, -1.8 %; INT: 4.091.391, +18.3 %; TOTAL: 4.839.092, +14,7 %

Is this Antalya's best month ever or still below 2014's numbers?

In Aug 2014 PAX numbers were as follows:
Dom: 642.124, Int: 3.864.219, total: 4.506.243.

So yes, it’s the best month ever for AYT. Same goes for YTD: 19.882.034 in 2014 vs. 21.539.388 in 2018

Major rebellion at INA due to bad working consitions and difficulties during morning/evenings transfers of workers. Worked totally stopped and all white colar workers are sent home. Military pitched in, to control situation. Difficult times ahead till openning.

I'm guessing too much pressure to open on time resulted in too much overtime. Setting unrealistic goals for a major greenfield airport is a mistake but hopefully it can be learned from.

leftyboarder wrote:

I'm guessing too much pressure to open on time resulted in too much overtime. Setting unrealistic goals for a major greenfield airport is a mistake but hopefully it can be learned from.

That is terrible news and somehow expected. I bet they are non union, work overtime in bad conditions for such long times.
Right after college I used to be a manager at a 24 hour running US factory with hundreds of union workers; still the hardest part is dealing with human problems. Not the product itself, not quality control, not the machinery.... actually dealing with people's day to day problems. ( late, no show, attitude, quitting, depression, fights....) They are not robots and they all have needs besides shelter, food, pay.
Negotiations for better pay, less overtime, time off, improvement of conditions.... come to mind.
Unions from the beginning could have been helpful. But even in the US, the unionization rate is down to 6% of the workforce.
Or, in case of "New Turkey" we can expect; military/police to go in; workers could get fired citing they are agents of foreign powers, a media ban.

What is the rush??
99% of the pax that is going to land at the new airport, do not know that they will be landing at the new IST airport.
Just look at this video posted by "kokpitaero" yesterday:
-Why computers and scanners are put in place and covered in dust 2 months before opening?
-Toward the end of the video, Look at all that Exterior work that needs to be done. I understand, I live in NY, giant construction goes on at LGA while still operating. But why rush this airport, while you have a functioning 70Mpax capacity airport?

Correction, I just learned that they are actually union workers.

TK787 wrote:

What is the rush??
99% of the pax that is going to land at the new airport, do not know that they will be landing at the new IST airport.
Just look at this video posted by "kokpitaero" yesterday:
-Why computers and scanners are put in place and covered in dust 2 months before opening?
-Toward the end of the video, Look at all that Exterior work that needs to be done. I understand, I live in NY, giant construction goes on at LGA while still operating. But why rush this airport, while you have a functioning 70Mpax capacity airport?

From operator (IGA) perspective, earning income to start paying loans. From gov't perspective, saving face and nothing more, as they'ce promised the date and backing down on that is a "defeat". Logic would dictate a postponement but logic went out the window a while ago.

TK787 wrote:

Just look at this video posted by "kokpitaero" yesterday:

Sorry, I forgot to include the link to the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... 8h3q5aU_QU

TK launching service to MEX ... albeit cargo.

TK787 wrote:

What is the rush??
99% of the pax that is going to land at the new airport, do not know that they will be landing at the new IST airport.
Just look at this video posted by "kokpitaero" yesterday:
-Why computers and scanners are put in place and covered in dust 2 months before opening?
-Toward the end of the video, Look at all that Exterior work that needs to be done. I understand, I live in NY, giant construction goes on at LGA while still operating. But why rush this airport, while you have a functioning 70Mpax capacity airport?

I 100% agree with you that this project is rushed not by a couple but around 6 months. There is never 1 reason why projects such as this in Turkey are rushed this way;
1) For this project its mostly political this was current government and Mr. Erdogan's crown jewel mega project.
2)Money, the pay date for the new operator starts after move in
3)It just the way it is in Turkey, I open stores at shopping malls they have clauses for not opening on time as they put the tile down on hallways. It never ever opens up fully operational.

Its best for everyone involved to delay this project 2-3 months, or even safer do it in spring April sometime. ready and enjoyable for everyone

There's a pretty disruptive thunderstorm in Istanbul right now, flights are struggling to land at the moment.

LAXintl wrote:

TK launching service to MEX ... albeit cargo.

My deep apologies for my ignorance: Can TK carry cargo between the two other airports, until reaching thei last destination? (Something like 5th Freedom Right?)

For those TK credit card customers, the company extended its Miles&Smiles co-branding agreement with Garanti Bank for another 5-years till 2023.

mafaky wrote:

My deep apologies for my ignorance: Can TK carry cargo between the two other airports, until reaching thei last destination? (Something like 5th Freedom Right?)

In many cases yes. Its dependent on air service rights. For the US, yes under the open-skies agreement it can carry cargo via or beyond to other markets.

According to http://www.airturkhaber.com/haberler/th ... perasyonu/ around 75 job rotations, mostly on international country management level at TK.

That seems like a huge rotation! Which principle is TK following here? Change every 3-4 years? Also, I'm amazed about the fact that basically no non-Turkish people are holding these positions. Talking about intercultural diversity...

According to the news in their website (yet unconfirmed by any party): http://www.airporthaber.com/havacilik-h ... arari.html (Sorry, it's all in Turkish)

TK will start operations at INA only with 20-30 planes, after Oct. 29th. These will consist of un-connected flights only; all flights with domestic and international connections will still be carried out from Ataturk Airport! Full operations will be (supposedly achieved) only by the end of 2019. Even this may be a somehow "time buying" case; it may get prolonged until the beginning of 2019 Summer Timetable...

It goes without saying that Star Alliance flights will also stay at Ataturk. I now wonder, what other airlines (particularly BA, EK & QR to name a few, which have multiple daily flights) will react to this as it will be unfair competition for them, as long as TK remains at Ataturk.

I'm pretty much sure, that IGA partners have "much enjoyed" these news, if these will come out true. It will be a major loss of face, after all what has been commented, so far!...

However, INA/IGA partners will still have a small consolation: The Pax Guarantee to be provided by the State will start clicking during this quarter-time activities at the New Airport!

mafaky wrote:

According to the news in their website (yet unconfirmed by any party): http://www.airporthaber.com/havacilik-h ... arari.html (Sorry, it's all in Turkish)

TK will start operations at INA only with 20-30 planes, after Oct. 29th. These will consist of un-connected flights only; all flights with domestic and international connections will still be carried out from Ataturk Airport!

That just sounds crazy !!!
20-30 planes. What planes? What un-connected flights? Can anyone name few of those flights that does not connect to another flight?