THY wants to become world's best airline

Turkey's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY), which has been recently named Europe's best airline company, wants to become the world's best airline in near future.

Speaking to AA, THY's Director General Temel Kotil said THY had been chosen the best airline in Southern Europe in 2009 and 2010, and this year, it had been named the best airline in Europe by London-based research organization in air travel, Skytrax.

"While we received these awards, we were also ranked the second in the world in many categories. Our new goal is to become the world's best," Kotil said.

Pointing to Europe's significant place in the world aviation market, the official said European passengers would prefer flying with THY more from now on thanks to the latest award.

Kotil also said THY's cabin crew had expanded from 1,700 to 5,500 and the number of its pilots had increased from 640 to 2,200 in the last couple of years.

"The number of our flights per day, which was around 400 in 2005, reached 1,000 this year. Our goal is to increase such figure to 2,000. We grow 20 percent every year. If we maintain such annual growth rate, I believe we would achieve our goals in a very short time," Kotil noted.

Based in Istanbul, THY is one of the fastest growing airline companies in the world. A Star Alliance member carrying approximately 25 million passengers a year, THY posted 286 million Turkish lira net profit in 2010.


/World Bulletin/