2003 Annual Report - Turkish Airlines

We have continued to add newdestinations in ourinternational network tofurther promote ourCorporation’s identity as a"global network carrier."Development of Flight Network/New DestinationsGrowing competition in the international market, plussuccessive economic crises has forced airlines buildstronger network structures. Turkish Airlines also continuedto add new destinations to its international network,further promoting its corporate identity as a "globalnetwork carrier."As of September 18, 2003, Turkish Airlinesrecommenced flights to India’s capital city, New Delhi,one of the largest and fastest growing markets in theworld. Passengers that traveled via Istanbul on theEuropean and North American routes and the New Delhiroute, a route which achieved a high passenger loadfactor from the day it started, helped strengthen TurkishAirlines’ network.China, despite the SARS epidemic, continues to exceedthe general growth trend in the market. Turkish Airlineshas restructured its flight schedule to maximize the use ofits long distance fleet and take advantage of this growingmarket. In this regard, Turkish Airlines terminated itsJohannesburg/Cape Town flights on March 30, 2003and began channeling the new capacity toward theBeijing/Shanghai route. For the summer season, TurkishAirlines has increased the number of flights to thesedestinations from three to five per week.As a result of a careful research, number of flights perweek to Dubai, one of the favorite holiday spots of thelast few years, have been increased. Turkish Airlines’flights revived quickly after the war in Iraq and haveregained previous customary load factors. The Dubairoute, the capacity of which was raised by 18.1% in2003 compared to the previous year, reached a veryhigh load factor level with an increase in number of21