Aviation

Turkish Airlines adds Mumbai to network

Bhavika Jhaveri - Mumbai

Turkish Airlines is set to increase its route network in India with direct flights from Mumbai. The airline, which currently operates the 210-seater Airbus 310 from Delhi five days a week, will now fly throughout the week from India - three days from Mumbai (Mon, Wed and Sat) and four from Delhi (Tues, Thurs, Fri and Sun) from May 2006.

Pramod Sahni, head (Sales & Marketing) for the airline, said, "India is a fast growing market and we see a lot of potential in the number of Indians wanting to travel to Turkey for the cultural, adventurous and scenic experience that it can offer to tourists. The response here has matched our expectations."

As its GSA, InterGlobe covers 14 cities and is looking at promoting leisure travel.

Sahni further informed that the airline is expecting delivery of 12 new Airbus 330s in 2006, which would subsequently be upgraded on both the routes. "Our current bilateral is of 1,500 seats and we expect to increase our services once the talks with the government takes place in March. The induction of our new fleet and the bilateral are co-related."

Turkish Airlines is scheduled to add 26 more destinations by May besides India. With the number of visas issued in India in 2005 being close to 15,000, the airline is expecting the number to cross 20,000 this year. Sahni said, "The Tourism Ministry in Turkey has set aside some budget for the Indian market. We are promoting Turkey in a big way here and are also looking at Bollywood to showcase this destination."