Turkish Air chief says tourism sector will rebound in the summer

Turkish Airlines’ CE expects his country’s tourism sector to rebound this summer and continue to strengthen through the rest of 2016. Foreign visitors to Turkey have fallen for nine consecutive months through April, according to government data, as terror attacks by Daesh and Kurdish militants wreak havoc on its $32b tourism sector. Turkey will start to see more visitors from July and August when the “real summer” starts, Turkish Airlines chief executive Temel Kotil told Gulf News in Dublin late on Wednesday on the eve of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual meet in the Irish capital. May through to August is Turkey’s peak tourism season when many Europeans head to the country’s southern beaches. Turkish Airlines reported a 1.24b liras ($421m) Q1 net loss in May in what was the partially state-owned carrier’s worst quarter performance since at least 1999. The airline blamed the loss on a nearly 3% drop in the number of seats filled and a fall in revenues as it sold airfares for less though carried 10% more passengers. Kotil expects Turkish Airlines will sell fares for “around” 2-3% less this year than in it did in 2015 as the weak Turkish market puts pressure on margins. The airline is targeting to carry 72m passengers. “By the end of the year we will have a good profit,” Kotil said.<br/>