News from Turkey

Turkish Airlines will upgrade one of its two daily flights to Avinor’s Oslo Airport from its Istanbul Ataturk base to an A330 service.

Azul S.A., “Azul”, the largest airline in Brazil by number of cities and departures, and Turkish Airlines, national flag carrier of Turkey, announced the signature of a codeshare agreement effective as of 6 December 2017.

Boeing and Turkish Airlines celebrated today the delivery of the airline’s first 777 Freighter. It’s the first of two 777 Freighters, Turkish Airlines has on order for this year. 

SunExpress, a joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, adds 14 new flights to its flight network between Anatolian cities and Europe in the summer season of 2018.

Park Inn by Radisson announced the opening of Park Inn by Radisson Istanbul Ataşehir. The new 127 room hotel is the sixth Park Inn by Radisson hotel to open in Turkey. The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group now has a portfolio of 24 hotels and over 4,600 rooms in operation or under development in Turkey.

Founded in Istanbul in 1994, Hitit, a provider of new generation airline, airport and travel industry software products and services, has been awarded as International Niche Technology Company of the Year at the 12th Annual ACQ5 2017 Global Awards. Moreover, Hitit’s CEO Nur Gokman has become the Gamechanger of the Year.

HalalBooking.com recently organised an international familiarisation trip for 28 travel agents, to Turkey’s popular Antalya region. With 20 halal-friendly hotels in the area, this is widely regarded as the world’s leading destination for halal-conscious holidaymakers.

The Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) is accepting applications from promising young Turkish Americans to attend the Council of Turkish Canadians (CTC) 10th Annual Turkish-Canadian Youth Congress, which will be held January 12-14, 2018 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Turkish government has banned all events by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights groups in Ankara. LGBT rights organizations would launch a legal process against the Ankara Governor’s Office’s decision to ban all LGBT events in the Turkish capital.

The 18th International Izmir Short Film Festival was held in Turkey’s Aegean city of Izmir between 7 and 12 November 2017. The festival announced its award winners on Saturday, November 11 at Historical Havagazi Cultural Center.

U.S. missions in Ankara and Istanbul announced that they have resumed limited processing of all non-immigrant visa services, with priority to special cases.

Turkish Airlines, given the financial discipline and dynamic demand management applied since the beginning of 2017, with US$939 million in Q3, 2017, posted record net profit of all 3rd quarters in company history. The 9-monthly operating net profit is recorded as US$956 million.

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) published Europe City Travel & Tourism Impact report, which looks at the contribution of Travel & Tourism to city economies and job creation. Istanbul is ranked in the top 5 for international spend in Europe.

Qatar Airways launched its scheduled services to Adana following the arrival of its inaugural flight from Doha to Turkey’s fifth-largest city.