Turkish Airlines are expanding very aggressively -- and becoming more profitable than ever as a result of this expansion. While some other airlines have cut a few routes, Turkish Airlines has increased their destinations, which now includes Los Angeles and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in Vietnam, as part of the 19 new cities served this year alone.
And the airline is talking about buying LOT and Jat, the Polish and Serbian airlines, though no final decision has been made yet. Turkish Airlines CEO says the airline will continue to grow 15% to 20% each year -- just as it has for the past seven years. With 175 destinations now, it is on track to become Europe's third biggest full-service airline by passenger numbers in 2010, possibly even overtaking British Airways PlC. (The number one carrier in Europe is Lufthansa AG).
One of the government's plans is to build a third Istanbul airport with the capacity of 60 million passengers annually, which is just a little behind London's mammoth Heathrow Airport (with an annual passenger capacity of 66 million).
Turkey has focused on building its air industry into a national strength in the past eight years. In 2002 just eight million passengers a year flew within Turkey. By 2009, 41 million passengers flew domestically each year in Turkey -- a five-fold increase in just seven years.
Turkish Airlines focus on growth will surely also be a great opportunity for professional pilots. Each time Turkish Airlines adds a new aircraft to its fleet, new pilots need to be hired. Will you be one of them? Are you interested? Are you trained and ready to be hired? If you are interested, but not trained and ready, contact Phoenix East Aviation, www.pea.com, and find out what you can do to be part of the airline industry as a professional pilot.