Turkish Airlines (THY) will raise the number of flights between Istanbul and Nursultan, Kazakhstan, from the current five times a week to seven as of July 1, THY Almaty Director Hasan Savaş Erden announced.
Speaking at a press conference, Erden emphasized that THY has made great strides in the global aviation industry in recent years.
THY was been the first international airline company offering flights to Kazakhstan, starting in 1992. Erden said they started flights to Nursultan in 2005 and have been contributing to the Kazakh aviation industry for over 27 years.
He noted that they fly to 124 countries with THY's fleet of 336 planes. "We expect to increase the number of aircraft to 500, the number of passengers to 120 million and revenues to $30 billion by 2023," he said.
Erden noted that Turkey and Kazakhstan are close to each other in terms of culture, arts and economy, adding that the number of passengers between the two countries has therefore seen a significant rise.
He said over 240,000 tourists from Kazakhstan visited Turkey last year. "We believe the number will exceed 250,000 this year. Due to the rising need, we will increase the number of Nursultan-Istanbul flights to seven as of July 1 from the current five flights a week."
Erden added that they launched Almaty-Istanbul flights with wide-body aircraft with the support of the Kazakhstan Civil Aviation Committee last year. We want to start flights with wide-body aircraft to Nursultan as well.
He said ticket prices start at $299 in line with demand. "The airline company carried a total of 66,000 passengers from Kazakhstan to Istanbul and 10,000 passengers to touristic cities such as Antalya, Bodrum and Izmir with charter flights last year," he added.
THY also offers 10 scheduled flights a week from Almaty and plan to add the city of Aktau to its destinations as well.
Saltanat Tompiyeva, chairman of Kazakhstan Civil Aviation Committee's Department of International Relations and Air Transport, said they were pleased by the increase in the number of Nursultan-Istanbul flights. "Flights on a daily basis will enable passengers to return to Kazakhstan or go to Turkey any proper day they want," she said.
Touching on intensive passenger traffic between the two countries, Tompiyeva said around 60 flights, more than 20 of them by THY, travel between Kazakhstan and Turkey on a weekly basis.
THY marks 25th year of Istanbul-NY flights
Turkish Airlines celebrated its 25th anniversary of Istanbul-New York direct flights at a ceremony in New York Wednesday.
Speaking at the event, Alper Aktas, Turkey's consul general to New York, said Turkey's flag carrier has achieved great success.
The ceremony was also attended by Turkey's U.N. Ambassador Feridun Sinirlioğlu, Turkish Airlines New York General Manager Cenk Öcal and Brooklyn Mayor Eric Adams.
Turkish Airlines, founded in 1933, flies to 313 destinations in 124 countries.