Turkish Airlines in Star Alliance

Added: (Mon Dec 11 2006)

Pressbox (Press Release) - Basing my news on what I have read in one of the leading news sources- Turkish Daily News, I can communicate that Turkey's national carrier has taken an important step in making his name more well-known.

Turkey's flagship carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) has started the process of joining the Star Alliance, in a move that will give the world's biggest airline confederation new destinations in Turkey, Central Asia and the Middle East.

Turkish Airlines and Star Alliance officials signed a pre-accession deal in a ceremony in Istanbul on Saturday 16th December, formally launching the integration process.

“Star Alliance will be in a unique position to offer flight connections through what has historically been the gateway to both Asia and Europe,” Star Alliance's CEO, Jaan Albrecht, said.

THY will become the 21st member of the alliance when it formally joins. The company, with 101 planes, is the world's 27th carrier in terms the size of its fleet, and flies to 131 destinations. The airline, established in 1933 by modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, carried 17 million passengers last year.

Member carriers of Star Alliance -- led by United Airlines and Lufthansa -- offer more than 15,000 daily flights to some 800 destinations.