The first Turkish Airlines flight took off in May, 1933, a few short years before the Second World War. The beginning of the operation was anything but impressive as they only had 4 planes that could carry a maximum of 23 people. 1945 was the first time they added any new aircraft to their fleet. Currently, they took reception of a Boeing 777-300ER, the first of twelve, that is the most advanced intercontinental airplane. The company has become more and more profitable over the past five years, largely due to their aggressive route expansion strategy. It certainly seems that Turkish Airlines has learned many lessons since their early days of flying less than twenty five passengers at a time.
There seems to be an increase in passenger flow especially among expatriates. Once they pick good licensed moving services to relocate, then their next move is to estimate moving expenses, and select Turkish Airlines as their carrier of choice.
With four weekly flights, the newest destination to receive Turkish Airlines’ flights is Valencia in Spain. Then the following month, April, routine weekly flights will begin for the Malaga (Spain) to Istanbul route. That schedule will operate three times per week. These destinations are an expansion to the routes the airline already offers to Spain, namely Madrid and Barcelona. However, that is just the tip of the iceberg for what will be quite a busy year for the company. Turkish Airlines will add quite a number of destinations to their already impressive list throughout 2011. For example, a few months later there will be inaugural flights to France for Toulouse, Lyon, Paris and Nice. That will bring the total international destinations to 175, and the year has only just begun. And then again, another US flight gateway was placed on Turkish Airlines’ list back in June, 2010. This newest expansion increases the total number of US originated gateways to three with nonstop flights from Washington DC to Istanbul, Turkey. Dulles International Airport will possess four flights coming from there. The Airbus A330 will be the selected airliner. This move indicates that Turkish Airlines is always looking for ways that will give American plenty of reasons to see Turkey’s beauty. Surely, it can be said that Istanbul has a combination of both old world and modern history. Also, a fourth US gateway is planned for March, 2011, originating from Los Angeles California to Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport.
The airline is also consolidating the rewards programs together into a single account for both Mile & Smiles family members and Elite Plus members. Essentially, the Elite Plus members will enjoy greater convenience because their earned miles will be located in a single account.
The family members of any individual account holders also benefit by having any generated miles applied to them too. The miles can be earned from purchases made from the Miles & Smiles credit card and flights with partnered Star Alliance member airlines. Turkish Airlines has been around for quite a while, but their first years were marked by many issues. Such a situation is not unusual for airlines, though, since they have to face a number of issues. All levels of this airline company have been subjected to changes. Like people, the airline has successfully learned from its previous mistakes and has now become a company that can adapt to its environment making it a powerful player on the market. This article has provided a quick glimpse at some of the most exciting times and events for Turkish Airlines.