Aviation association considers local flights

ÇANAKKALE - Anatolia News Agency

The Turkish Aeronautical Association (THK) is looking to launch its own flights to Turkish destinations not covered by Turkish Airlines and other major carriers. Hürriyet photo

The Turkish Aeronautical Association (THK) is planning to introduce flights to cities that do not have any, said THK President Osman Yıldırım.

“We are continuing our negotiations to create our own airline. We want to provide flights to destinations not encompassed by Turkish Airlines, Anadolu Jet and other large airlines. We want to fly from Ankara or other large cities and provide services to other destinations that do not currently have available flights.”
Yıldırım also said THK was interested in manufacturing Turkey’s first domestic airplane.

“We want to provide our public with planes that we manufacture, which will be part of this system,” said Yıldırım. THK plans to produce two to four-seat planes by 2014 for purchase by the general public.

Meanwhile, investments in the Turkish civil aviation sector have reached 7.6 billion Turkish Liras in the last decade, Turkish Transport Minister Binalı Yıldırım said yesterday, adding that more than 150,000 people were employed thanks to investments in the civil aviation sector.

When foreign airlines shrunk during the global crisis, the Turkish civil aviation sector continued growing, he said.

The sector’s turnover rose to $15.3 billion from $2.2 billion in the last decade, he added.