News from Turkey

Turkey's first regional airlines Borajet announced that it will suspend its flights starting today. The carrier, which is purchased by SBK Holding end of 2016, is now undergoing a reconstruction period.

Famous Spanish singer Luz Casal will perform for her fans at Istanbul’s Cemal Resit Rey concert hall on April 29, 2017.

With the approach of summer, the sea of the Aegean started the preparations for the new season in Bodrum, Turkey. Bodrum, which is a sight of international business brands as well as local brands and Istanbul's popular businesses, seems to be one of the favorite destinations this year. The world famous Nikki Beach Resort & Spa Bodrum is preparing to open its doors to its guests on May 18, 2017.

The city of Istanbul and the people of Istanbul meet their tulips. It is a good reason to travel to Istanbul and enjoy Istanbul’s parks that are decorated with beautiful tulips. Since 2005, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality annually organizes International Istanbul Tulip Festival in spring. This year’s tulip festival takes place until April 30, 2017.

The 36th Istanbul Film Festival announced the winners of its competitions at an award ceremony held at Soho House İstanbul on Friday evening, 14 April. The 36th Istanbul Film Festival Award Ceremony saw presentations of awards in the scope of International and National Golden Tulip competitions, FACE Human Rights in Cinema, National Documentary and National Short Film competitions, as well as the Seyfi Teoman Best Debut Film Prize, FIPRESCI International, National,and National Short Film Awards.

The Rezidor Hotel Group announced the opening of Park Inn by Radisson Izmir in Turkey. The Rezidor Hotel Group now has a portfolio of 23 hotels and 4,500 rooms in operation or under development in Turkey.

Turkish Airlines takes in-flight experience even further. Having the passenger’ satisfaction as the airline’s priority, wide on-board selection of the carrier continues to be broadened in order to reach the widest range of passengers’ requests.

Turkish Airlines further enhances its network to Russia by launching Istanbul – Samara flights today. Turkish Airlines already flies to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Rostov, Kazan, Ekaterinburg, Ufa, Stavropol, and recently added Voronezh.

Pegasus Airlines has evaluated its performance for 2016 whilst disclosing its targets for the future. Despite all the developments that have put pressure on the aviation sector in 2016, Pegasus succeeded in increasing its guest numbers by 8.1% to 24.14 million, and its turnover by 6.2% to TRY 3.7 billion. Pegasus CEO Mehmet T. Nane stated that the airline expected a cautious recovery in the aviation sector for 2017, but real growth would be experienced from 2018 onward.

Istanbul based technology and reservation solutions provider for travel industry professionals; HotelsPro reported 74% growth in terms of revenue in Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region, compared to the first quarter of 2016. According to HotelsPro’s data, the top prominent country of CIS region is Russia with 155% growth in terms of revenue.