Star Alliance carrier Turkish Airlines is ramping up its operations to Birmingham Airport in the United Kingdom for Summer 2024.
Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-900ER – Image Economy Class and Beyond
The airline is to expand its operations from 14 flights a week (operating double-daily) to 18 flights a week. From June next year, it will increase frequency to three times a day on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays while continuing its twice-daily services on other days of the week.
Typically, Turkish Airlines deploys members of its single-aisle fleet on this route (Airbus A320 family/Boeing 737 family).
In previous years, Turkish Airlines has flown twice daily to Istanbul in the summer before reducing to 10 a week in the winter months as demand dropped off. This year, for the first time, it is maintaining its twice-daily service through the winter due to increased demand.
In Quotes
Eren Ozturk Sales Manager from Turkish Airlines, said:
“Customer demand from BHX to Istanbul is strong and growing stronger, so we’re pleased to be able to meet this demand with additional flights.”
Tom Screen, aviation director, added:
“The popularity of Türkiye as a holiday destination continues to grow and we are seeing this strongly reflected in our customer number forecasts. More and more customers are also stopping in Istanbul before flying onwards to destinations on Turkish Airlines’ vast global network.”
Growth in the regions
Turkish Airlines seems to think there is demand in the regions of the UK (beyond London), where it serves Edinburgh, Manchester and Birmingham – as well as Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.
Whilst some of that traffic is holiday traffic, that number seems to be being dwarfed by the Turkish Airlines network, allowing passengers to connect as needed (be it to Asia and the Far East, the Middle East or South America).
In this respect, Turkish Airlines isn’t competing as much with Pegasus Airways (who recently launched a service from Birmingham), but it is targeting Emirates and Qatar Airways for long-haul traffic by funnelling passengers through its hub in Istanbul.
With additional frequencies, that might help in the capacity uplifts that Turkish Airlines is providing…
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