Local carrier halts operations for restructuring ahead of new Istanbul airport opening

Turkish carrier BoraJet Airlines has announced the temporary suspension of operations for a restructuring process to prepare itself for Istanbul's new airport, the firm said in a statement April 24.

The company's ownership was recently changed and Turkish private equity firm SBK Holding acquired the local carrier late in 2016 from U.S.-based Turkish businessman Yalçın Ayaşlı.

"BoraJet Airlines, which has operations at 80 points both in Turkey and abroad, has been in a restructuring process in a bid to gain a stronger presence at Istanbul's third airport after its ownership rights were transferred to SBK Holding. As it will take a long time for the company to execute the technical maintenance and repair works of six airplanes in the company's 10-unit fleet, our operations will be halted temporarily to complete these works and make a new business plan so as not to hurt customer satisfaction and [the company's] commercial reputation," it said.

The company also said around 30,000 customers with already-booked reservations with BoraJet would be able to use their reservations on Turkish Airlines flights. 

The company's technical services unit, BoraJet Technic, will not halt operations but will continue to engage in repair and maintenance work, the statement said. 

The first phase of Istanbul's airport is planned to open in 2018. 

According to sources close to BoraJet, the new owner of the company sued the company's former owner over debt issues.