Turkish Airlines, Star Alliance mark ten years

ANKARA (AA): Turkey’s national flag carrier on Monday celebrated the 10th anniversary of joining the Star Alliance network at its headquarters on Monday.

“Turkish Airlines was welcomed as the 20th Star Alliance member airline in April, 2008,” the company said.

“When Turkish Airlines joined Star Alliance network in 2008, it was adding 31 destinations to the Star Alliance network, but today it marks the presence of Star Alliance at 72 unique destinations in the World.”

The flag carrier hailed the Star Alliance network, which was established in 1997, as “the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international travellers.”

“Turkish Airlines offers a wide-range of exclusive products and high-end global services while its passengers enjoy worldwide recognition on every Star Alliance member flight,” it said, adding: “Together with other 27 Star Alliance member airlines, the flag carrier offers the widest choice of flights that connect people and cultures around the world.”

Speaking at the ceremony, Turkish Airlines’ chairman Ilker Ayci said: “Like yesterday and today, Turkish Airlines will continue to be a valuable partner for Star Alliance and its members; as an important element for our common strategy that will enable the Alliance to move forward with solid footprints.”

“We’re sure that we will have more constructive partnerships within this big family, by working towards the desired goal of making further successes in forthcoming period,” Ayci added.

Jeffrey Goh, Star Alliance CEO, stated that as the global alliance transitions into its third decade — it is looking forward to continued close cooperation and support from Turkish Airlines.

“In the last 10 years Turkish Airlines has played an important role in developing Star Alliance’s global network, especially improving access to Turkey, Central Asia and the Middle East,” Goh said.

Turkish Airlines, founded in 1933 with a fleet of five aircraft, currently has nearly 330 aircraft, including passenger and cargo planes, and flies to more than 300 destinations worldwide. Last year it carried 68.6 million passengers with a 79.1 percent seat occupancy rate.

The airline was named Best Airline in Europe by Skytrax for six years in a row between 2011 and 2016, and chosen the Best Airline in Southern Europe for the ninth consecutive time in 2017.