Turkish Airlines joins Star Alliance

At a ceremony held in Istanbul, Turkish Airlines was welcomed as the 20th Star Alliance member airline. The new member will offer the alliance with an additional 31 destinations - mainly in Turkey, Central Asia and the Middle East. Overall, the aviation alliance now offers 18,000 daily flights serving 965 airports in 162 countries.

"With Turkish Airlines we have gained a new member carrier with a strong home market which is also one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Moreover, we can now offer the Star Alliance benefits to a large number of new travellers, while at the same time simplifying travel for our existing customers to many of the new emerging markets in Central Asia and the Middle East," said Jaan Albrecht, Star Alliance CEO.

Turkish Airlines is already one of the fastest growing airlines in Europe (passenger traffic growth of 23.5% according to the Association of European Airlines (AEA) and holds a strategic position between Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Dr. Temel Kotil, the CEO of Turkish Airlines commented: "This year Turkish Airlines celebrates its 75th anniversary and joining the alliance is an important step for the airline's future, building on its strength of bridging Europe and Asia through its Istanbul hub and thereby adding value to the Star Alliance network."

Turkish Airlines has already outlined its further expansion course both in terms of network and fleet. By the end of the year Turkish Airlines plans to start flying to 11 new destinations and add an additional 22 aircraft. This will further improve the flight connections provided by the Star Alliance network.

Dr. Candan Karlitekin, Chairman of the Turkish Airlines said: "Joining Star Alliance is an important step for Turkish Airlines in becoming a major player and global airline in the world of aviation. For this we have raised our own internal targets in order to provide a world-class service to the 493 million passengers a year flying on the Star Alliance network."