Passenger numbers are rising in line with the increase in direct flights from Ankara Esenboğa and Izmir Adnan Menderes Airports.
Ankara and Izmir are “directly connected” to the world
Since the new terminals have come into service, Ankara and Izmir have begun to stand out as new regional flight hubs for Turkey. As a result of new business models and marketing activities, passengers are now able to fly wherever they want, without long waits and at affordable prices. Istanbul is therefore being relieved of some of its load and new ties are being established with the world, bringing about an increase in economic, social and tourism-based income.
The Izmir Adnan Menderes International Terminal and the Ankara Esenboğa Airport Domestic and International Terminals--which have come into being as synergistic projects of TAV Construction and TAV Airports,and on the basis of a “build-operate-transfer” model--have become new regional flight centers in Turkey. Flights to 31 international and 26 domestic destinations leave from Ankara and flights to 29 international and 15 domestic destinations leave from Izmir. The TAV Esenboğa and TAV Izmir teams are assuming proactive roles in order to make full use of Ankara’s and Izmir’s real international and domestic traffic potential and to increase the number of direct flights. The teams collaborate with the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Culture and Tourism and airline companies, with the aim of developing new marketing and business models and promotion strategies. Thanks to this new approach, passengers are now able to fly wherever they want in Turkey and abroad; without long waits and at affordable prices. After the new terminals came into service, airline companies also formed their own marketing models, thereby creating a new field for passengers. While the increase in passenger traffic--due to direct flights in Ankara and Izmir--has relieved Istanbul of some of its load, it is also contributing to country-wide productivity by achieving significant savings in the use of energy resources and time.
Domestic Flights IZMIR ADNAN MENDERES AIRPORT:
Operations of the Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport International Terminal, with its modern architecture and infrastructure, were assumed by TAV Airports in September 2006. Following this development, over the last two years Izmir has gained great momentum from the point of view of tourism and general economic factors. Erkan Balcı, General Manager of TAV Izmir, states that apart from the scheduled flights of official airlines such as British Airways, Lufthansa and Finnair, SunExpress has made Izmir its headquarters and both Pegasus and OnurAir have direct international flights. However, Erkan Balcı says that people are still not fully aware that there are direct flights from Izmir and that the habit of flying via Istanbul persists. Balcı says: “Foreign tourists who wish to visit Ephesus still fly to Bodrum out of habit and then reach Ephesus after a bus ride of two and a half hours. But Ephesus is only a half hour’s distance from our airport. Besides Ephesus, there are many other historical and tourist areas for which Izmir can be a focal point. This awareness can be developed with new promotional approaches. This is after all a subject that would create new economic and social opportunities for Turkey and for this region Both the Ministry of Culture and
The TAV Esenboğa and TAV Izmir teams are assuming proactive roles in order to make full use of Ankara’s and Izmir’s real international and domestic traffic potential and to increase the number of direct flights. The teams are always ready to support the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, as well as airline companies, and are happy to collaborate with the aim of developing new marketing and business models and promotion strategies.
Tourism and the Ministry of Transport are carrying out work aiming to raise awareness on various levels.At TAV Izmir, we are always ready to take part in such collaborative projects and we participate in many activities aimed at advertising both within the country and internationally that there is a large airport in Izmir and that there are direct flights here.”
Lufthansa, which has been flying to Izmir since 1986, has a daily flight between Munich-Izmir-Munich. Can Modacı, Izmir Region Sales Manager for Lufthansa German Airlines, says that as of 28 March 2010 they intend to increase daily flights to Munich to two during the summer schedule. Remarking that in-coming flights are full from mid-June to the end of July and that out-going flights are full from early August to 10 September, He goes on to say that they are very happy to have acquired a modern airport offering good quality services, once TAV Airports began to operate the Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport International Terminal. Mister Modacı also emphasizes that they are working to increase Izmir’s business traffic as well as tourism and ex-pat traffic. Stating that the ESPAŞ, Atatürk Industrial Zone, Manisa Industrial Zone and Tire Industrial Zone are undergoing continuous development, He says that they believe Izmir will reach a much more advanced level from a commercial point of view and that they will continue with their investments
SunExpress, founded jointly by Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, flies to 11 destinations from Izmir: Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Munich, Amsterdam, Stuttgart, Berlin, Hanover, Oslo, Nuremberg and Stockholm. When the January-March 2009 period is taken into consideration, SunExpress has a 51% market share of international flights. Onur Canlı, Aegean Region General Manager for SunExpress, indicates that a significant German investment has been made in the region and that they do their very best by offering support for all their flights. Stating that on 8 May 2009 they celebrated the 20th anniversary of SunExpress and the 3rd anniversary of operations in Izmir at the Alsancak Train Station, together with tour operators and agencies, Canlı emphasizes that all parties involved have high hopes for the future of flights to and from Izmir.
Among the destinations of other direct international flights from Izmir are Bristol, Bucharest, Brussels, Dublin, Ercan, Hamburg, Jeddah, Liege, Lille, Lyon, Minsk, Nantes, Nuremberg, Medina, Moscow, Paris, Tehran, Toulouse and Zurich.
Melek Burcu Yaşar, Izmir Station Manager for Steelbird Aviation--which represents airlines such as Thomas Cook Airlines UK and Finnair--says that after the Bodrum Airport was opened there was a decrease in international flights to Izmir; but that once the international terminal created by TAV Airports came into service, there was an increase once again in the number of flights. Yaşar points out that Finnair, which had not flown to Izmir since 1997, has restarted its Helsinki-Dalaman, Dalaman-Izmir and Izmir-Helsinki flights. Indicating that Thomas Cook Airlines UK--which has flights from Izmir to Manchester, London-Gatwick and Birmingham--has increased its flights from four to six in the last year, she states that summers resorts such as Kuşadası, Didim, Seferihisar and Gümüldür attract more and more British tourists and that there has been an increase in flights.
THE IZMIR TEAM IS READY TO COLLABORATE
Erkan Balcı
TAV Izmir General Manager
“Izmir is more and more becoming a choice flight hub; mainly for tourism, but also for international business flights. Within this process, it is our duty to promote our direct flights and to collaborate with relevant ministries and airline companies. At the TAV Izmir Family, we are ready to offer the very best, thanks to our service quality, our capacity, our high technology infrastructure and our architectural features.”
IZMIR IS GAINING IMPORTANCE IN DIRECT FLIGHTS
The Izmir Adnan Menderes International Terminal, which blends modern design with state-of-the-art technologies and high quality service, is rapidly increasing its number of direct flights while also developing new business models with airline companies.
“As of 28 March 2010 we intend to increase our daily flights to Munich to two during the summer schedule. We are carrying out work aimed at increasing Izmir’s business traffic as well as tourism and international worker traffic.”
CAN MODACI Lufthansa German Airlines
Izmir Region Sales Manager
MELEK BURCU YAŞAR
Steelbird Aviation Izmir Station manager
“Especially after the international terminal created by TAV Airports came into service, a growth trend has begun in flights. For example Finnair, which, since 1997, had not been flying to Izmir has restarted its Izmir-Helsinki flights. Thomas Cook Airlines UK, which organises flights from Izmir to Manchester, London-Gatwick and Birmingham, has increased its flightsf last year from four to six.”
ONUR CANLI
SunExpress Aegean Region manager
“SunExpress, a company formed jointly by Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, flies from Izmir to 11 destinations. On 8 May 2009 we celebrated the 20th anniversary of SunExpress and the 3rd anniversary of our operations in Izmir. We believe that our Izmir flights will gradually increase in the forthcoming period.”
ANKARA ESENBOĞA AIRPORT:
The terminal, which came into service in November 2006 as a “build-operate-transfer” project, serves both domestic and international airlines. Last year a total of 1,247,000 international passengers made use of the Ankara Esenboğa Airport, where very rapid passenger circulation takes place. Passenger traffic at Ankara is also undergoing a rapid increase. Direct international flights from Ankara include destinations such as Amsterdam, Atyrau, Baden-Baden, Baghdad, Baku, Basel, Berlin, Billund, Borispol, Brussels, Cologne, Copenhagen, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Eindhoven, Ercan, Frankfurt, Friedrichschafen, Hamburg, Hannover, Jeddah, Kabul, Kiev, Lyon, Medina, Mosul, Munich, Nantes, Nuremberg, Paris, Riyadh, Saarbrücken, Stuttgart, Stockholm, Tehran, Vienna and Zurich.
Mehmet Büyükkaytan, Ankara Station General Manager for Turkish Airlines, remarks that Turkish Airlines has five flight lines from Ankara and flies to 8 destinations. He adds that these numbers will most probably increase in the future because they now have a very comfortable and efficient airport.
Domestic Flights
Anadolu Jet, a Turkish Airlines brand based in Ankara, and SunExpress, a company formed jointly by THY and Lufthansa Airlines in Izmir, and IzAir, part of the Pegasus portfolio, compete with bus prices thanks to their low cost operations. Direct domestic flights from Ankara fly to Adana, Adıyaman, Ağrı, Antalya, Batman, Bodrum, Dalaman, Denizli, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Erzincan, Erzurum, Gaziantep, Hatay, Istanbul Atatürk, Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen, Izmir, Kahramanmaraş, Kars, Malatya, Mardin, Muş, Samsun, Sinop, Şanlıurfa, Trabzon, Tekirdağ and Çorlu.
Direct domestic flights from Izmir fly to Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Diyarbakır, Erzurum, Gaziantep, Istanbul Atatürk, Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen, Kars, Kayseri, Mardin, Malatya, Samsun, Trabzon and Van.
Sami Alan
Head of Regional Flights at Turkish Airlines
with responsibility for Anadolu Jet
ANADOLU JET HAS CONNECTED ANATOLIA AND ANKARA
One of the aims of the strategy plan outlined in Turkish Airlines’ 2023 Strategy Document is that of transforming Ankara into a hub. When the capacity of Istanbul Atatürk Airport reached its maximum, it became necessary for Turkish Airlines’ growth strategy to steer toward other courses. Based on Ankara’s suitability for domestic transit flights and due to its location in Anatolia, it was decided that a new airline network should be established that would connect the domestic network to international flights such as Ankara-Frankfurt.
This is how the THY project called Anadolu Jet came into being on 23 April 2008. Sami Alan, Head of Regional Flights at Turkish Airlines with responsibility for Anadolu Jet, states that they have implemented a variety of innovations, with the aim of making air transport more attractive for trips between various cities of Anatolia and Ankara. Their first objective was to reduce the great disparity between bus ticket prices and flight prices. To this end they reduced the distance between seats from 31-32 inches to 29 inches and thus were able to increase the number of seats from 159 to 189. Another factor in the reduction of expenses consisted in the reduction of the aircraft’s time spent on the ground; to do this, they trimmed the lengthy and detailed cleaning and catering loading processes. Catering was therefore transformed into mini catering services. These cost-cutting measures have allowed ticket prices to be reduced from TL 109 to TL 59, including taxes. Anadolu Jet undertakes to always sell its first 29 seats at TL 59, including taxes.
Anadolu Jet currently flies from Ankara to 25 different destinations.
Sami Alan has the following to say about their promotion activities: “We established an effective business model and now we are carrying out intensive marketing activities. Our teams continuously conduct field work. We are focusing the business on marketing, advertising and campaigns.”
Sami Alan said that Anadolu Jet has achieved 90% success in on-time departures and that TAV Airports plays an important role in this success, providing great support. He further remarked, “While the standard number of passengers from Ankara was at 1.2 million, in spite of being in the midst of a crisis we have reached a figure of 2.5 million. Our target for the second year is 3.5 million. Our growth speed continues to be positive.
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