38 SPECIAL FEATURE TRANSPORT NEWLY-OPENED ISTANBUL NEW AIRPORT WILL PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE FUTURE OF TURKEY’S AVIATION DUE TO THE EASTWARD SHIFT IN AVIATION DEMAND Veysel Serdar Vice President Sales Central Europe, Turkish Airlines Turkish Airlines: new airport, new records Interview: Veysel Serdar, Vice President Sales Central Europe Turkish Airlines There are lots of changes on the horizon for Turkish Airlines’ passengers with the opening of Istanbul’s new airport. We asked Veysel Serdar, VP sales Central Europe for Turkish Airlines to tell us more about this and how 2018 went for the company. The three most important topics in 2018 were the opening of Istanbul’s new airport, our new record of 75 million passengers and the launching of nine new destinations, strengthening our position as the airline with the most international destinations in the world with 310 cities in 122 countries. Our goal for 2019 and beyond is to continue this growth while offering the best service to our customers. Istanbul New Airport therefore brings a new dimension to our business. In conjunction with our own dynamic development, this new airport will usher a new era that we want to share with all visitors to ITBBerlin. ITB visitors will be able to look at our high-quality service and also get the chance to see the newly launched uniforms for Turkish Airlines’ cabin staff, created by Italian Designer Ettore Bilotta and inspired by Turkish culture. These are just some of the exciting things we want to show. How are load factors progressing? During the period January through December 2018, the increase in demand and total number of passengers topped 10% compared to the same period of last year. We recorded a total of 72.2 million air travellers, while the general load factor improved by three points to 82%. How is Istanbul’s new airport revolutionising Turkish Airlines? The newly-opened hub will play an important role in the future of Turkey’s aviation due to the eastward shift in aviation demand. Istanbul is then ideally located as a gateway between East and West. The airport megaproject is being developed in four phases with the final one to be completed in 2028 to serve 200 million passengers. The smart and innovative design of the airport will allow a seamless travel experience for travellers flying with Turkish Airlines. The new airport will provide Turkish Airlines with more available slots and help the expansion of network with opportunities for new routes. Passengers will also benefit from a redefined travel experience with exclusive new lounges and a terminal offering the latest technologies and innovations. How is travel trade reacting to the launch of flights from Antalya to London, Stuttgart and St Petersburg? The reactions have been absolutely positive and we are thrilled to start flying to these three cities from Antalya. I can also tell that we will in the near future also fly from Berlin to Antalya. We will also resume flights from Munich and Stockholm, proving that our dynamic development does not only concentrate in Istanbul. What other new routes are you adding in 2019? We fill excited to launch this year a triangle route linking Istanbul to Mexico City and Cancún. In Egypt, we will soon launch our fifth destination with Luxor while we are also launching new routes to Marrakech and Rovaniemi. We also introduce our newest Boeing 787-9 to Atlanta, Bali, Bogota/ Panama and Washington. Finally, we are boosting our presence in Thailand with a third daily flight from August to Bangkok and additional frequencies to Phuket. How important is ITBBerlin for you as a place to meet buyers? We are glad to be part of ITB as it allows us to meet potential travel guests in an informal atmosphere We love to have personal talks with our present and future customers. No website or social media can do replace this feeling! Hall 3.2 / Stand 201 ITB BERLIN NEWS • Wednesday 6 th March 2019 www.itb-berlin-news.com
SPECIAL FEATURE TRANSPORT 39 Scoot to Singapore ADVERTORIAL Asian low-cost airline Scoot created a precedent last year by flying from Singapore to Berlin (along with another European destination - Greece). We asked the airline’s Chief Commercial Officer, Vinod Kannan, why Scoot opted for Berlin, and how the route is performing. Beyond providing pointto-point travel from Berlin to Singapore, we saw an opportunity to offer Scoot’s extensive network in Asia, which includes a diverse range of destinations of interest in Southeast Asia and Australia, at an affordable cost, to travellers from Germany and surrounding regions in Europe. Berlin is an exciting upand-coming city rich in arts and culture, housing a burgeoning youth population with travel aspirations. It is also pegged the best city in the world for millennials, something that aligns with our ethos as the airline for the young and youngat-heart. In spite of these factors, we saw that Berlin was not well-connected internationally, especially from Asia, and we saw a lot of potential in this route. So With 17 long-haul aircraft, Condor will be taking-off even more frequently to the USA and Canada in the summer schedule. Condor also offers more flights to Italy, Croatia, Turkey and to the Balearic Islands. The Thomas Cook Group Airline includes two additional Airbus A321 in its fleet, one of which will be flown into the fleet of Condor and its sister airline Thomas Cook Airlines UK until spring 2019. With 103 aircraft in the summer of 2019, the Group Airline has the largest fleet of its far, the response has been encouraging, performing at an average of over 85% load factor since we launched in June 2018. With Malaysia as official partner country this year, what is the “flow on” effect of people travelling on from Singapore to destinations in Malaysia? Scoot currently flies to 6 cities in Malaysia (Ipoh, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Kuantan, Kuching, Langkawi, and Penang) and operates over 60 weekly services between Singapore and Malaysia, which makes connections via Singapore quite convenient. This year we are also launching two new exciting destinations in Malaysia - Kota Bharu and Kota Kinabalu in July and December respectively – offering travellers from Europe even more choices from Berlin. own aircraft in its history. The increase clearly shows Condor’s focus on operational stability: “Using additional aircraft of our own is another measure to live up to our promise of quality during the high season next summer,” says Christoph Debus, Chief Airline Officer of the Thomas Cook Group. Vinod Kannan Chief Commercial Officer, Scoot What are you looking to achieve at ITBBerlin? Seeing as we only launched in Berlin less than a year ago in June 2018, having a presence at ITBBerlin - one of the world’s largest tourism trade fairs – is important in raising awareness of Scoot, our products, and our unique value propositions. In time for ITBBerlin, Scoot is launching a promotional sale from 6 – 17 March for flights from Berlin to 34 exciting Scoot destinations Hall 26a / Stand 122 CONDOR: NEW AIRCRAFT AND FLIGHTS FOR 2019 Q4 of 2019 saw Condor launch a new service from Frankfurt to Kuala Lumpur, making this the only airline operating direct flights from Germany to the Malaysian capital, and creating excellent links for new German cruise operations based out of Langkawi Hall 26a / Stand 117 MASSIVE DEVELOPMENT PLAN ON TARGET FOR THAI AIR CONNECTIVITY Airports of Thailand (AOT) has announced that phase II of Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok will be completed in 2020, raising its annual passenger handling capacity from 40 to 60 million. AOT is the operator of the Kingdom’s 6 major airports, namely Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai and Mae Fah Luang-Chiang Rai. The fiscal year to September 2018 saw AOT-operated airports serving 135 scheduled airlines connecting more than 207 cities worldwide, handling over 875,000 flights and accommodating more than 139 million passengers. Further to the development of Suvarnabhumi, the development of AOT’s 6 airports also continues, while at the same time, the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) Development Project will see high-speed trains connecting to 3 airports; Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi and U-Tapao. AOT is also in the process of assuming the operatorship of Udon Thani, Sakhon Nakhon, Tak and Chumphon Airports, meaning the travelling network to tourism destinations in Thailand through AOT’s airports will become even easier. Aside from increasing airport’s traffic handling capability, innovation has also been a priority for AOT. The application of innovation has found its way to the provision of commercial services, internal organisation management and work integration with other organisations through a digital platform. Coming to the fore as well is AOT’s mobile application which offers a range of convenient features for passengers to enhance service quality Hall 26.b / Stand 219 ITB BERLIN NEWS • Wednesday 6 th March 2019
