ATN: How Star Alliance membership affect Turkish Airlines?
TK: It helps us a lot. It is very positive that we are a member of such an alliance with only good carriers. We experienced increase in passengers; business passengers mainly. I believe there was a significant contribution of the alliance membership to this increase.
ATN: The fact that also EgyptAir joined Star Alliance, is it going to have a negative effect with regard to your network?
TK: No. We have already a codeshare agreement with EgyptAir. I believe that if there is cooperation in the routes that we compete each other, all that happens is improvement. We have this kind of experience. In any routes we are going and another country’s airline comes, it is happening improve of the market. It doesn’t make at all financial problem to each other. We want to cooperate even more with EgyptAir, now that we are both in Star Alliance.
ATN: Do you expect to have increase in your traffic figures?
TK: Exactly. We are happy to enter Egypt market, which is a dynamic one. Compare to 200 flights per week we have from Turkey to Germany, of course, it is smaller but Turkish Airlines and Egypt Air are waiting more from our cooperation.
ATN: Will it be also financially positive for you?
TK: Of course. Market, let’s say from Turkey to Egypt or Syria is improved and it has two carriers to serve it. National flag carriers of both served countries.
ATN: Do Low Cost Carrier’s trends constitute a fear for Turkish Airlines?
TK: No. Actually every carrier has its passengers. If we offer good product in reasonable prices we have nothing to fear. We will always find our passengers. We compete Low Cost Carriers so many years. It is not new for us. Low Cost Carriers are stimulating the market. Their logic is to create new markets and they operate in a different way of us. We are offering quality to the passengers and this is how we manage to keep our clients.
ATN: What about SunExpress which is half owned by your company?
TK: SunExpress was founded as a joint venture agreement between us and Lufthansa. It aims to serve Turkish tourism sector with charter flights, considering the huge number of the Turks immigrants living in Germany and Germans who spend their vacations in Turkey. SunExpress is a very good charter business. There is business for charters, for the Low Cost Carriers etc. There is demand for all those carriers.
ATN: How do you think your traffic figures will be at the end of 2008?
TK: Wonderful. We predict about 20% increase in the number of passengers in 2008. So we have no problem at all this year because we are improving ourselves and growing continuously. We have 14.128 employees in our company.
ATN: Are you planning to have more aircraft?
TK: In 2008 we received 19 aircraft. We have 58 Boeing types of aircraft and 59 Airbus types of aircraft. We are expecting deliveries of 2 Airbus A330 during 2009. We increased 7% our seat capacity in 2008 and from 2004 to September 2008 our seat capacity has been increased 66%.
ATN: Are you operating as a private company?
TK: There is a share still belonging to the public but yes, we operate as a private company.
