Turkish Airlines soaring high for 88 years now
ISTANBUL, Turkey—Turkish Airlines is celebrating this year its 88th anniversary of flying in the skies, 70 years of which in the Middle East and 40 years in the UAE.
Turkey’s national airline celebrated its 40th anniversary of flying to the UAE in synergy with the country’s Golden Jubilee celebrations.
Established in 1933 with a fleet of five aircraft, Turkish Airlines launched its first Middle East flight to Beirut and Cairo in 1951 and the first TK flight landed in Abu Dhabi on 7th January 1981 with the route relaunching again on January 25th, 2006.
The first flight to Dubai was operated on 05 November 1983, while the Sharjah route was launched on 11 April 2019 with daily flights. Anadolujet operated its first UAE flight on 20 December 2020 by operating daily flights.
Currently, Turkish Airlines operates 28 weekly flights to UAE—21 weekly flights between Istanbul Airport and Dubai Airport; 3 weekly flights between Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport and Dubai Airport, and; 4 weekly flights between Istanbul Airport and Abu Dhabi Airport.
“We are delighted to celebrate 40 years in the UAE. This year started on a positive note with the airline industry opening up and we are focusing our energy on enhancing the travel experience especially for the Expo 2020 in Dubai while keeping in mind the airline’s hygiene protocols necessary for a safe flying experience. Our team is enforcing a higher level of protection for every stage of the journey that goes above and beyond industry standards,” said Emre Ismailoglu, General Manager, Dubai and Northern Emirates, Turkish Airlines.
Hasan Demir, Turkish Airlines General Manager in Abu Dhabi, remarked, “Reaching the 40-year milestone in the UAE is significant to Turkish Airlines. We are confident that the positive outlook of the UAE to normalise the travel industry will be beneficial to everyone and we hope to see more momentum as more travellers come to experience the World Expo. Our team in Abu Dhabi are excited to see an upward trend in our industry and in particular because of the proactiveness of the UAE.”
Turkish Airlines flies to 328 destinations worldwide and new cities are added frequently. More flights are seen to be added between Dubai and İstanbul to accommodate increasing demand between the destinations.
