Turkey grained more international success in the aviation industry thanks to new flight routes launched in 2017 due to bilateral aviation agreements with other countries carried out by the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (SHGM). Turkey now ranks among the top 15 countries and airports in terms of new route launches in 2017.
According to a statement by the SGHM, based on research carried out in terms of new flight routes added to flight networks around the world, global airlines launched more than 3,500 new routes in 2017.
The results indicate that Turkey ranked 11th among countries that developed their flight network the most with new routes. In 2017, 141 new routes were opened to Turkish and foreign companies with permission granted by the SGHM in domestic and international flights.
The U.S., which launched around 971 new routes last year, maintained its number one ranking for route launches, followed by Germany with 464 and Spain with 425 new routes.
More success came from Antalya when new services for 2017 are measured on an individual airport basis. Antalya, which broke a record in terms of passenger growth in Europe in the second and third quarters last year, is now among the top 15 airports with 25 new routes added to its flight network in both domestic and international flights.
Agreements, signed within the scope of the ICAO Bilateral Aviation Negotiations (ICAN) conference in Antalya two years ago, granted Antalya global success with newly opened lines.
The Economist writes about local aviation success
In addition, the development in Turkey's aviation sector was a subject in the January issue of The Economist, which emphasized that this sector enjoyed a decade of uninterrupted growth of more than 10 percent a year.
Even though Turkey experienced some falls in the number of passengers in 2016 due to the July 15 failed coup attempt and various terrorist attacks, Turkey managed to recover rapidly in 2017.
The recovery in the first and the second quarters of 2017 paved the way for what national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) Chief Executive Bilal Ekşi described as a "very fantastic" turnaround in the third quarter, The Economist's report said THY made an astonishing TL 2.4 billion in the third quarter, surpassing its annual takings in all but one of the past 10 years.
The number of passengers has almost regained its double-digit growth pace, the report said, climbing 9.3 percent.
"Whereas in 2016 it was forced to lease out surplus planes, now it has too few to cope with the demand," the report said.
Currently, THY flies to more than 300 airports in 120 countries across the world and has the title of "airline that flies to the most countries in the world."