Speaking to Today’s Zaman in Manchester, THY Chairman Hamdi Topçu stated that 10 airlines had contacted the company with offers to sell and hand over their operations to Turkey’s national airline. Topçu revealed that renowned airlines such as Italy’s Alitalia, Serbia’s Jat Airways and the Polish LOT had contacted THY asking them to purchase their companies. He could not comment on the remaining airlines due to non-disclosure agreements. Regarding Alitalia, he stated that when THY’s team noticed that the Italian airline’s workers were members of 13 different unions, they decided not to go forward with the purchase. Topçu also mentioned that many other airlines, three from the Balkans, four from Western Europe, one from Africa and two from Turkic nations had contacted THY to form partnerships.
THY, which currently has 120 international and 37 domestic destinations, has signed sponsorship deals with several European sports teams, including the soccer legends Manchester United and the Spanish FC Barcelona. According to Topçu, one of the main weak points of the company has always been a lack of publicity and that these sponsorship agreements, along with several worldwide advertising campaigns including one with actor Kevin Costner, would push THY into the global spotlight. He added that in 2009 the advertising and publicity budget was $30 million and that this number would more than double this year to $70 million, with the majority of it being dedicated to international markets. The company aims to reach 31 million passengers in 2010, up from the 25.1 million in 2009.
‘Eliminating visas worked in our favor’
The chairman underlined that the government’s diplomatic efforts with its neighbors and the elimination of visas with many countries in the region has helped THY’s business, stating that “these new policies have all helped increase our business.” Regarding transit passengers, Topçu stressed that the company was aiming for even bigger growth in 2010 than the 371 percent increase in transit passengers between 2003 and 2009.
