Turkish Airlines gets 200th plane

ISTANBUL

Minister Şimşek (L) and Chairman Topçu pose inside the cockpit of Turkish Airlines’ new Boeing 737-900 plane. DHA Photo

Turkish Airlines (THY) and Germany’s Lufthansa, the largest airline in Europe, are in talks to increase their cooperation, Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said yesterday at a ceremony to mark the delivery of the 200th plane of the national flag carrier.

“There is an ongoing study on a [possible] cooperation between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa,” Doğan news agency quoted Şimşek as saying at the event.

No merger plans

“That is about increasing the [current level of] collaboration, especially about developing dialogue in some areas and improving commercial relations for sure. The chairman of Turkish Airlines is working together with the counter party on these issues. That is all we can say about the talks at this stage,” he said.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at a party meeting in Ankara on Nov. 3 that German Chancellor Angela Merkel had suggested the establishment of joint management for the two carriers during her recent visit to Germany.

Last week, Financial Times Deutschland reported that Lufthansa and THY were in talks to each take share stakes in the other, quoting sources close to the German carrier. A day earlier, Lufthansa had rejected rumors of a possible merger.”

“Our aim on the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Republic of Turkey, in 2023, is to be a global airlines company with the largest network, be a five star airline company and to be the leading airlines in our region of 1.5 billion people,” said Hamdi Topçu, chairman of THY.