By Taddewo Senyonyi
On January 6, 2014, this writer set out to Istanbul, the business hub of Turkey for a business trip, aboard Turkish Airlines. The
aircraft with capacity to carry over 200 passengers was almost full, indicating that the airline’s future in Uganda is bright but also the bi-lateral relationship between Uganda and Turkey is growing strong.
The food, drinks, entertainment (personalized) and customer care from cabin crew members on board were excellent but behind these luxurious services and the comfort enjoyed is a successful story of a well planned and big investment as I came to learn when I, together with a few journalists from Uganda visited some of the facilities of the airline.
As of December 2013, Turkish airlines, a national flag carrier airline of Turkey and a member of Star Alliance network, headquartered at the Turkish Airlines General Management Building on the grounds of Ataturk Airport in Istanbul operated scheduled services to 41 domestic and 202 international airports/destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, making the airline the fourth largest carrier in the world by number of destinations.
Building Wealth; Five Ugandan Entrepreneurs Democratizing Access to Investments.Having one of the youngest fleet in Europe with an average age of 6.6 years, Turkish Airlines’ fleet size as of today is 231- 182 narrow body, 40 wide body and 9 cargo aircraft. Started in 1933, Turkish Airlines with flights to 105 countries and a fleet of over 200 aircraft is undoubtedly, one of the largest airlines in the world.
Turkish Airlines has thrice won the Skytrax awards for Europe’s Best Airline, Southern Europe’s Best Airline, and the World’s Best Premium Economy Class Airline Seat for three consecutive years in 2011, 2012 and 2013.The airline, according to published financials, saw its sales grow by 26%, reaching 13.9 billion Turkish Lira (TRY).
Operating profit reached 1.3 billion TRY (US$576 million). This was a result of a 24% increase in passenger traffic. In the first nine months of 2013, the carrier flew 36.2 million passengers.
“Our aim now is to make 2014 the year in which we exploit the strength of our Istanbul hub to the maximum. As we increase flight frequencies to our existing destinations during the year, we are therefore going to further broaden our flight network by opening new routes,
