Turkish Airlines, the largest European carrier by destinations said it has moved at least 40,000 passengers from Nigeria alone, from January till date. The airline is also looking at taking serious steps to expand its operations in Nigeria.
In an interview with journalists today in Lagos, Tarkan Ince, the Country Manager of Turkish Airlines for Lagos, airline will be doing over 60,000 passengers by the end of this year. Tarkan also hinted that the airline is gearing up to open its Port Harcourt operations. The airline operates in Lagos, Abuja and Kano.
Tarkan said the airline has already started the process of the agreement and its soonest the will begin its Port Harcourt operations.
Tarkan also shared the 2015 Aviation Trends Report with journalist. One of the major findings of the report is that most frequent flyers in Nigeria book their flights online. The research also found out that Nigerians want WiFi in their flights.
As to how the airline is managing in the face of Nigeria’s Forex scarcity and economic doldrums, Tarkan said ‘we are here for the long haul. He conceded that, while the airline has not being able to take out some of its funds from Nigeria, ‘we believe what is happening is just a phase that will get better and we can benefit when things pick up’ he added.
Turkish Airlies has been awarded as the Best Airline in Europe by Skytrax for the past six year.
