Turkish Airlines shuns GSA route, to open office in India

In its global expansion plans, Turkish Airlines has decided to open its own office in India instead of operating through a general sales agency (GSA). InterGlobe Aviation is the GSA for the airline in India.

“We are working out a plan for expansion in India,” said Adnan Aykac, general manager of Turkish Airlines in India.

Turkish Airlines is the national carrier of Turkey and operates in 139 international and 42 domestic cities of Europe, Asia, Africa and the US.

Aykac said the airline will take delivery of 22 aircraft by the end of the current calendar year and would not need leased aircraft. The airline has taken four Boeing 777s on lease from Jet Airways and the lease period will expire this year.

“We will take delivery of 12 Boeing 777s and 10 Airbus 330s this year and may not operate with leased aircraft,” said Aykac.

Jet Airways, India’s largest carrier in terms of passenger carriage, said it has informed Turkish Airlines that the lease would not be extended.

“Jet Airways will induct two Boeing 777 aircraft into its operations and has entered into an agreement with Thai Airways for the lease of the remaining two. The aircraft will be leased for two years with an option to extend for a year,” said an email reply from the airline.

The lease period of the first aircraft expires on July 14, second on August 12, third on September 1 and fourth on October 30.

Turkish Airlines, which is a Star Alliance member and has code sharing with Air India, hopes to strengthen it further after the national carrier joins the alliance in July. “Once Air India joins the alliance, it will help us extend our operations. We expect to get passengers from Kathmandu without actually flying there,” said Aykac.

He said the airline aims to strengthen its network in Europe to provide unmatchable link across Europe. “Our plans are to expand our network in the US after Europe,” he said.