Airline

The total number of passengers Turkish Airlines carried in the first three months of 2024 has increased by 8.4 percent annually to 18.5 million.

The international passenger tally was up 6.7 percent from a year ago to more than 12 million, while domestic passengers rose by 12.8 percent to 4.49 million, the carrier said in a filing with Borsa Istanbul.

Türkiye's flag carrier Turkish Airlines reported a net income of more than $6 billion in 2023, marking a 121 percent increase from the previous year.

Total revenues rose by 13.7 percent last year compared with 2022 to reach $20.94 billion, while passenger revenue climbed 24 percent to $17.7 billion, according to the company's financials.

Airlines have increased their available air seats for travel to Greece this summer by 10.1% from last year, anticipating strong demand.

Among the four major markets from which Greece attracts visitors, the United States stands out with a 27.2% increase in available air seats, to 613,200 seats for the March-October period.

Aegean Airlines set new records in 2023, having fully recovered from the pandemic.

Last year, on an annual basis, the group increased its turnover by 27%, to 1.7 billion euros, and its operating profits by 46%, to €400.4 million, keeping the cost structure competitive despite inflationary pressures.

Qatar Airways, the official airline partner of Posidonia 2024, is offering a 10% discount on economy and business class tickets for flights to Athens from its global network.

The offer, valid until June 7 for travel from May 20 to June 17, is available at qatarairways.com and the mobile app using the promo code POSIDONIA24.

Turkish Airlines has launched scheduled flights to Australia's Melbourne and hopes to start flights to Sydney by the end of the year.

The first plane on route to Melbourne departed from Istanbul Airport on March 1 with 349 passengers, including Ahmet Bolat, chairman of Turkish Airlines, and a group of journalists. 

Flights to and from Greek airports will be grounded February 28 when air traffic controllers will walk off the job to join a 24-hour nationwide strike public sector union ADEDY demanding pay rises.

Airlines are expected to cancel all the domestic and international flights.

The only the flights allowed will be emergency air transport.

Starting in mid-March, Turkish Airlines will launch flights from Istanbul to Melbourne, its first destination in Australia.

Three reciprocal flights will run every week between Istanbul and Melbourne with a stop in Singapore, according to a statement from Türkiye's flag carrier.

Turkish Airlines aims to double the number of aircraft in its fleet in 10 years and to become one of top seven carriers in the world, Ahmet Bolat, the chairman of the board and the executive committee, has said.

The company currently operates a fleet of 440 jets, Bolat said, adding that its fleet will expand to have a total of 810 aircraft by 2033.

The momentum of airline reservations, i.e. the tickets that have already been sold as well as the airline seats planned by the airlines for Greece this season, point to an increase in tourism arrivals of up to 10% this year compared to the all-time high recorded in 2023

This is provided there are no unforeseeable domestic or international events.