Turkish Airlines has commenced its double daily services between Birmingham and Istanbul, increasing the volume of seats on sale from the Midlands, and providing 289 onward global connections from Istanbul.
Paul Kehoe, chief executive, Birmingham Airport, said, ‘I congratulate the Turkish Airlines team on doing a great job here in the region and increasing passenger numbers year-on-year, and for further committing to Birmingham Airport and the wider region.’
‘Turkish Airlines is an award winning carrier and long-standing partner of ours which has gone from strength to strength serving hundreds of thousands of passengers from our catchment. The Turkish Airlines in-flight product is first class and extremely popular with its customers, which is demonstrated by more and more people choosing to experience the service, reliability and affordability it offers from Birmingham and beyond.’
Selim Ozturk, General Manager for Birmingham, Turkish Airlines, said, ‘Birmingham Airport is a hugely successful base for us and we have grown significantly over the past eight years. This double daily announcement gives passengers even more choice and with 289 onward destinations via Istanbul throughout the Middle East, the Far East and Africa, Birmingham Airport really is the gateway to the world with our award winning airline.’
Turkish Airline has registered significant growth since it started operating from Birmingham Airport with five services a week to Istanbul in December 2008. By increasing its frequency every year, the airline has now reached 14 flights weekly.
Meanwhile, Birmingham Airport has registered record breaking growth in passenger numbers in the past 14 consecutive months. In total, 872,833 passengers were handled at the airport in April 2016, up by 13.2 percent compared to the same month last year when the last record April was set. Long-haul routes experienced the greatest rise in demand, with 41.2 percent passenger growth compared to April 2015. Meanwhile, short-haul routes saw a 9.7 percent growth rate year-on-year, the airline said recently.
