The President of the fast-growing flag-carrier, Turkish Airlines, Mr Ilker Ayci, told a team of African and Asian journalists that after successfully welcoming 62 million passengers worldwide last year, strategies are afoot to increase the numbers to approximately 65 million passengers by the end of 2016.

The Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, the hub airport of Turkish Airlines, is competing to be the best in Europe in passenger traffic, which is supported by the flag carrier by flying to more countries and international destinations than any other airline in the world.

The Turkish Airlines president said Istanbul’s planned third airport close to the Black Sea had a projected start date of October 29, 2017, and added that it would host 65 million passengers in its first year of operation.

Overcrowded hub

“The airline’s current hub, the already hugely overcrowded Ataturk airport named after Turkey’s modern founder, would then only be used for non-scheduled flights,” Mr Ayci said.

The Turkish government still holds a minority stake of just over 49 per cent of the shares with the rest traded on the Istanbul market.

“The second airport, Sabiha Gokcen on the Asian side of Istanbul, would continue operations. Istanbul will be the most connected city in the world,” he added.

Rapid connections at the new airport would mean passengers “will go home two hours earlier on average.”

The ultimate capacity of the new airport, which some officials suggest could be named after Erdogan, will host a colossal 120 million passengers annually, which will make it one of the biggest in the world with six runways and four terminals.

Flying middle class

“A particular focus for Turkish Airlines is Africa where the “middle class are flying big” and the company built profitable routes like Ghana where the airline is enjoying high passenger traffic providing competitive airfares to passengers and even to seemingly ominous destinations like Mogadishu in Somalia,” Mr Ayci said.

About 120 journalists from Africa and Asia flew into the commercial capital Istanbul for a three-day tour during the week.

The journalists visited key installations in Istanbul, including Turkish Airline’s state-of-the-art Flight Training Centre where pilots polish their skills every six months.

This centre is among the world’s most modern with 21 simulators, each costing about $200 million. They prepare pilots to handle various types of planes.

He confirmed that Turkish Airlines had taken a knock financially and in terms of staff numbers due to the coup attempt. The weekend after the July 15 and 16 attempt, the United States cancelled all Turkish Airlines flights until Homeland Security reopened its borders.

The journalists were briefed by the President of the airline, Mr Ilker Ayci, of the damage caused by the coup attempt that he blamed on followers of Fethullah Gülen who is in exile in the US.

“Gülen’s movement began 30 years ago and was represented in the judiciary, schools, universities and other areas of the economy,” he said.