THY stood out with 12.3 percent growth and moved from seventh to fourth place among members of the Association of European Airlines (AEA) ranked by passengers carried, according to recently finalized AEA 2010 traffic data.
“After the US, Turkey is the most important market outside the European aviation area for European carriers, with passenger traffic amounting to more than 25 million per year,” AEA Secretary-General Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus said in a statement released on Tuesday.
“İstanbul is the ninth-largest airport hub in Europe and, serving as a European Capital of Culture in 2010, is set to consolidate its position further this year. We expect significantly more visitors to this beautiful city,” Schulte-Strathaus said, adding that Turkey is already a destination for 23 AEA member airlines, all of whom have an interest in minimizing any barriers there might be to accessing İstanbul.
Schulte-Strathaus noted that the ongoing process of creating opportunities between the EU and its major travel-trade partners had largely bypassed this important market. “We have ‘open skies’ with the US and Canada and a comprehensive agreement with Morocco. Traffic will increase if the conditions are right, and that includes reducing administrative burdens for airlines and travelers. This is particularly true if citizens are encouraged to visit the European Capital of Culture,” he said.
Schulte-Strathaus further called on regulators from Turkey and the European Union in the statement to discuss ways of further facilitating traffic -- for the benefit of consumers at both ends of the market between Turkey and the EU. “The experience of 2009 tells us that the future shape of European aviation will be different to how it has been in the past, and new regulatory structures need to be put in place. For European airlines seeking to regroup and rebuild, a market relatively unaffected by the downturn represents an attractive point of focus,” he argued.
