Flight constraints expected to limit regional growth for Turkish Airlines

Temel Kotil, the chief executive of Turkish Airlines, said that his strategy is to focus on organic growth.

Temel Kotil, Turkish Airlines, CEO gestures during the interview in Dubai . Satish Kumar / The National
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The head of Turkish Airlines expects its growth to slow down in the Middle East as bilateral agreements with some countries in the region limit where and how often it can fly.

Temel Kotil, the chief executive of Turkish Airlines, also said that his strategy is to focus on “organic growth” – a year after talks of a potential merger with Lufthansa have fallen apart.

In an effort to boost growth, the Turkish carrier plans to spend US$200 million in advertising next year, or the equivalent of 2 per cent of its budget.

“It looks that the Middle East growth will be less, as we are limited in the frequencies and cities that we fly to,” said Mr Kotil, adding that growth from the Middle East was at an average of 17 per cent over the past 10 years.

He declined to specify which countries’ bilateral arrangement were limiting his airline.

However, he did specify where turmoil at street level is limiting the airline’s reach.

Mr Kotil said that geopolitical challenges in the region had prevented Turkish Airlines from flying to Syria for the past three years. The airline has also stopped flying to Mosul in Iraq. And in Libya, it flies only to the city of Misurata, after it stopped flying to Tripoli and Benghazi.

But those are not a major problem, he said.

“The business is not affected by these destinations, because we are a large airline and we fly to 216 international cities,” said Mr Kotil.

The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority did not reply to a request to comment on Mr Kotil’s observations.

International flights constitute a majority of income at Turkish Airlines, and domestic flights make up only 14 per cent. The carrier’s biggest market is Europe; followed by the Far East; then the Middle East and North Africa; and then the Americas.

For Turkish Airlines, being a member of Star Alliance limits its ability to make codeshare arrangements with Middle Eastern carriers.

“Saudi Airlines has a different alliance, Qatar Airways has a different alliance, Air Jordan [Royal Jordanian] is also part of a different alliance, which makes it very hard to codeshare,” said Mr Kotil.

Mr Kotil, who in his 10 years leading Turkish Airlines has overseen growth in its revenue to $11.6 billion a year from $1.8bn, said that his primary strategy is to grow solo.

“We stick on the organic growth. We have 1,200 flights per day, we need to bring them to 2,000 by 2020. This is a big challenge,” he said. “I am very busy with the growth. I have no time for other airlines or joint ventures, or other issues.”

selgazzar@thenational.ae

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