Last week, something very weird happened in this sector. The Dutch Transportation Ministry banned Onur Air, which is a private Turkish airline company, from flying into or out of the Netherlands for one month. The reason: "There are some problems because the aircraft maintenance checks are not done properly."
It is interesting that Germany banned Onur Air flights only two hours after the Dutch decision was taken, and two days later, France also joined the bandwagon.
The evaluation is that this decision, taken at the start of the tourism season, will affect both the company and Turkish tourism, negatively. Onur Air, whose planes cannot fly, is trying to make agreements with other airline companies in order not to make its passengers suffer undue hardship, but needless to say, thousands have already been affected by the flight ban. Even if the ban is lifted one month later, the loss of prestige on the market cannot be compensated easily.
The same airline company continues to fly as normal to England, Italy and Denmark. For example, the Danish Civil Aviation Administration told AFP that Onur Air planes have no defects to prevent their flights.
Onur officials stated: "As claimed, if the decision taken because of an alleged defect in one of Onur Air's aircraft, is applied in a general scale, then no airline company will be able to enter the Dutch air space." Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim stated that the decision is too harsh, adding: "If there is a technical problem with an aircraft, only that particular plane should be banned from flying. This is the international attitude."
But, why was such a weird decision taken? In general, the names in the sector summarize the situation as "competition." Charter companies, which belong to the Turkish private sector, were only able to transport 10 percent of the passengers coming to Turkey from Europe until recently. However, these companies increased the number of their planes and launched a serious offensive from inside and outside. Turkey's flourishing tourism sector also contributed to this.
It is one of those firms, Onur Air, an efficient airline company in the Netherlands that triggered the ban. Last year almost half of the 1.191 million tourists coming from the Netherlands to Turkey were transported by Onur Air. When other Turkish firms are included, it means that 70 percent of the passengers from the Netherlands were transported by Turkish companies.
Also, almost half of the Dutch package tour market is in the hands of Turkish companies. Tour operators prefer Turkish companies since they offer extremely attractive prices.
It is necessary to remember that the Netherlands is the country where most of Turkey's capital is exported to. Thirty-two percent of Turkey's $7.063 billion foreign direct investment is in this country. And these figures continue to increase.
The Onur Air case reminded me of the explanation made by a top level official I talked to prior to December 17. This was the subject: There was a report emphasizing the possible effects of Turkish companies in Europe which will increase with membership, and that they might even capture certain sectors completely. The report, prepared by Dutch officials, was not made known to the public.
Unfortunately international competition does not operate the way it is written in textbooks or declared in the speeches. Companies sometimes act mercilessly and try to eliminate one another, employing different methods, including even the use of government mechanisms and resources.
It is possible that the Turkish private sector - that is opening up to the international market - will encounter this kind of treatment in the future, even more often, because some Turkish companies have gained power with their aggressive growth and performances, in a way that disturbs the big companies. We need not be surprised by this kind of treatment, and while playing the game according to its rules, we should also watch out for the illegal practices.
May 20, 2005
