‘Spend Ramadan in Istanbul’: Turkish Airlines reveals new campaign

National flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) aims to revive tourism, which has been stagnant since the two major earthquakes in the country’s southeast, centering in Kahramanmaraş, with a new campaign.

The new initiative aims to attract Muslim travelers from Far East countries to Istanbul with the “Spend Ramadan in Istanbul” package program, THY Chairperson Ahmet Bolat said.

Providing further details on the initiative, Bolat has confirmed that THY has already offered new projects, with plans to launch the Ramadan package program as early as next week in Hong Kong, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Bolat is optimistic that this program will be of significant interest to Malaysian and Indonesian Muslims and expects it to be a resounding success.

He further said that the airline is now the network carrier offering the most international seat capacity in the world for 2022. In addition, he revealed that the airline had achieved record success by connecting the world through flights to 342 destinations in 129 countries, utilizing a modern fleet of 400 aircraft.

Bolat also mentioned that the airline had added eight more destinations in 2022, including Seattle, Cebu and Bergamo, bringing the total number of international routes to 289. Additionally, the newly opened Rize-Artvin airport in Türkiye’s Black Sea region now serves 53 domestic lines.

The THY fleet boasts 267 narrow-body, 111 wide-body and 22 cargo planes, all of which are among the youngest in the world.

Bolat further noted THY increased its passenger revenue by 28% compared to 2019, reaching $14.3 billion, and saw a significant increase in cargo revenue by 121%, totaling $3.7 billion.

In 2022, THY’s total revenue reached a historical high of $18.4 billion.

Despite the increasing cost pressure due to high oil prices and global inflation, THY has achieved an operating profit of approximately $2.8 billion. After including investment and financing activities, the airline’s net profit for 2022 was recorded at $2.7 billion.

In 2022, the carrier achieved impressive financial milestones, including an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) value of approximately $5.4 billion, demonstrating substantial cash generation potential. Moreover, the airline’s EBITDA margin of 29% surpasses its peers.

THY has also become the world’s most valuable airline, with a market value of $10.4 billion, showing an increase of 400% in dollar terms from the previous year. This feat has propelled the airline to become the 10th largest airline globally.

Turkish Airlines has seen exceptional growth of 617% since the start of 2022, outperforming the BIST-100.

Bolat further expressed his determination to continue the success of THY in 2023, saying that the company is working tirelessly to repeat the achievements of the previous year.

To achieve this, the airline is restructuring its organization to manage the increasing and diversifying demands better, develop new products, expand its market and use resources more efficiently.