Turkish Airlines has expanded its reach and grown the number of scheduled flights it operates in Africa, entrenching the brand on the continent.
How is the airline doing this? Read below to find out how the airline is achieving growth in Africa.
TURKISH AIRLINES IN AFRICA
The airline offers flights to almost 60 destinations in Africa and is in the process of increasing frequencies on several of these routes.
Soon, it will increase frequencies between Istanbul and both Abuja and Bamako. The carrier will also add three more flights to Accra.
The company is making strides in route development on the African continent. There are several reasons for this.
ROUTE DEVELOPMENT FOR TURKISH AIRLINES
Aviation experts Sean Mendis and Behramjee Ghadially reflected on some of the reasons why Turkish Airlines is making inroads in Africa, in a conversation with AviaDev’s CEO Jon Howell.
Howell pointed out that route development refers not only to the introduction of new routes but also to increased capacity on existing routes through the deployment of larger aircraft or the addition of more frequencies on existing routes.
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NARROWBODY AIRCRAFT
Turkish Airlines has a large fleet that includes a significant number of narrowbody aircraft. These are key to the airline’s ability to sustainably serve many destinations in Africa.
Turkish has a number of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft as well as Airbus A321 Neo aircraft which are well suited to several African routes.
The airline is able to offer frequencies on many routes, with these next-generation narrowbody aircraft that can operate over longer distances.
“With its new-generation narrowbody aircraft, Turkish Airlines is able to serve marginal destinations with frequencies well above what could be served on a widebody aircraft.”
Sean Mendis, Aviation Analyst
Airlines like Emirates and Qatar Airways – who operate widebody aircraft to Africa – cannot access some of the destinations that Turkish serves with narrowbody planes.
“Markets where an Emirates widebody aircraft cannot get into, Turkish can serve with its narrowbody aircraft.”
Sean Mendis, Aviation Analyst
TRANSIT VISAS
Turkish Airlines has been offering free transit visas, often accompanied by complimentary city tours and hotel stays for passengers who connect through its hub in Istanbul.
That said, this arrangement is set to change. Several nationalities will soon require visas to transit through Istanbul, due to abuse of this arrangement.
However, this offer remains particularly attractive to transit passengers from many countries when connecting to or from Africa.
ADVANTAGEOUS LOCATION
It is often said that location is everything. In Turkish Airlines’ case, Istanbul enjoys a strategic geographical location.
Straddling between Asia and Europe, Istanbul is an ideal hub for flight connections between Africa and Europe or Asia.
Mendis added that Turkey also has a virtual Open Skies policy with Europe, enabling it to operate scheduled flights to most destinations in Europe.
This enables excellent connectivity for many travellers.
PAYLOAD RESTRICTIONS
Aviation consultant Behramjee Ghadially pointed out the absence of payload restrictions for Turkish Airlines flights from Istanbul.
This contrasts with other Middle East carriers which would have to contend with payload restrictions due to soaring temperatures at take-off.
Thus, the carrier can successfully operate many flight routes from Istanbul using narrowbody aircraft.
TURKISH AIRLINES AFRICA PASSENGER LOADS
Ghadially also mentioned that Istanbul has good point-to-point traffic flows from various African destinations.
This helps the airline to form decent base passenger loads, in addition to transit passenger loads.
As a result, Turkish Airlines is well-positioned to fill its planes and make African routes economically viable.
