90 Years of Turkish Airlines
Turkish Airlines, one of the leading airlines within the global aviation industry, celebrates 10 years of flight connections between Salzburg and Istanbul
Dostça karşılama İstanbul - Welcome to Istanbul – that was the motto 10 years ago, when the Turkish national carrier launched its service to Austria's largest regional airport: Salzburg. After the first landing, the distinguished guests from Istanbul were welcomed in amadeus terminal 2, the event locution of Salzburg Airport. There the plans of Turkis Airlines for Salzburg were presented: 4 weekly flights in the beginning, daily flights in the future. “We congratulate Turkish Airlines on their 90th anniversary and thank them for 10 years of professional partnership! Teamwork at eye level and loyalty also in challenging times characterized the last 10 years. The focus was always on establishing and strengthening the connection to Istanbul. The plans back then to connect the business and tourism location Salzburg with Istanbul on a daily basis have been more than fulfilled! Since 2013 Salzburg has a Star Alliance partner with Turkish Airlines, offering top quality with the best service as well as an excellent, global route network via Istanbul," says Airport Managing Director Bettina Ganghofer. Turkish Airlines has always been a guarantor, both for modern and environmentally friendly aircrafts and for a worldwide route network with high potential. Furthermore, Turkish Airlines has received several international awards for special service and comfort. For the Salzburg region and the economic area of the “EuRegio Salzburg Berchtesgadener Land”, the connection to Istanbul has important, new impulses. "We are definitely looking forward to further developing the route together with Turkish Airlines in the coming years! By the way, many people don't even know that the Turkish community in Salzburg and the three surrounding federal states is a very strong one. After all, around 75.000 citizens of Turkish descent live here - and I'm not even counting the entire Bavarian catchment area, which stretches all the way to Rosenheim," Ganghofer continues.
The flight connection is used not only by tourists but also by a large number of business passengers from the Salzburg area - the NONSTOP all-year-round connection to Türkiye was therefore welcomed and celebrated by politicians, business and tourism alike right from the start of the flight connection. State-of-the-art aircraft in accordance with the latest technical environmental standards are used on the route from Salzburg to Türkiye’s most populous city. Since 2018, the aircrafts of Turkish Airlines no longer head for Istanbul Ataturk Airport, but land at the most modern and largest European airport - Istanbul Havalimani - which is also one of the seven largest airports in the world.
"Having the occasion to connect our guests from here to the whole world via our uniquely positioned transfer hub in Istanbul, we are proud to celebrate our 10th years in Salzburg. We would like to thank the management of Salzburg Airport, and all our partners here for their valuable support throughout the years. We are confident that our collaboration will get even stronger as years pass, like our operations in Salzburg”, said Harun Basturk, Senior Vice President for Europe and Head of Online Sales.
Via Istanbul Havalimani, TURKISH AIRLINES offer a wide range of connections from Salzburg to different international destinations: in the Middle East, India, Pakistan, the Far East, Africa as well as North and South America.
Established in 1933 with a fleet of five aircraft, Star Alliance member Turkish Airlines now has a fleet of 429 (passenger and cargo) aircrafts flying to 344 worldwide destinations as 291 international and 53 domestics in 129 countries.
90 years of Turkish Airlines - a success story
How it all began
May 20, 1933: 5 airplanes, 30 employees and the idea of connectiong people, cultures, continents, countries and cities while creating new, inspiring travel experiences. As a state-owned airline, Turkish Airlines started a success story 90 years ago, with the first overseas flight completed as early as 1947 (from Istanbul to Athens) and the fleet expanding to 33 aircraft in 1951. New destinations such as Nicosia, Beirut and Cairo were added to the flight schedule and barely four years later the name "Turkish Airlines" was officially introduced as an IATA (International Air Transport Association) member. The airline's official base was at Istanbul's Yeşilköy Airport, which became a hub for thousands as a global meeting place and was renamed the world-famous Ataturk Airport in 1985. Almost 40 years later, the first European McDonnell Douglas DC-10 aircraft was integrated into the Turkish Airlines fleet.
Formative 80s and 90s
Flights to America were launched from Europe and the Middle and Far East, and more than 5,000 employees on 4 continents were in service for Turkish Airlines. In the late 90's Turkish Airlines went "online", a website was launched and a modern call center was put into operation in early 2001. Customers can now book their flights in English, German, Japanese, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Chinese and Russian on the website www.turkishairlines.com . A year earlier, the Turkish national carrier launched a Miles&Smiles program - including exclusive privileges for mileage collectors. In 2008, Turkish Airlines became a Star Alliance member. In addition to Wi-Fi service, Turkish Airlines expanded the "in-flight experience" through a cooperation with Turkish Do&Co and raised the in-flight entertainment system to the highest standard worldwide. Today, Turkish Airlines flies to 129 countries worldwide with a young and environmentally friendly fleet of 429 aircraft.
