Turkish starts Istanbul-Phuket flights, seeks better slots

Turkish Airlines is keen to ramp up its new Istanbul-Phuket flights to a daily basis from four flights a week. But that possibility hinges on more favourable landing and take-off slots at Phuket airport. Chief executive Bilal Eksi said Tuesday that the carrier is prepared to go daily on the route next year if such changes are allowed soon. The current schedules are inconvenient for transferring passengers from Turkish's global network, especially those travelling from Europe via Istanbul. Flight TK172 leaves Istanbul at 2.30pm and arrives in Phuket at 4am, with TK173 leaving Phuket at 5.30am and landing in Istanbul at noon. "If we could land here in Phuket two hours later than the current timing, that would greatly facilitate our transfer of passengers to here," Eksi said. He said Airports of Thailand Plc, which runs Phuket and other key airports in Thailand, was receptive to Turkish's request for improved time slots that would allow the airline to ferry more tourists to the southern resort island. Flight-slot constraints at heavily congested Phuket airport forced Turkish to accept the current time slots in the first place; otherwise, the Istanbul-Phuket launch would have been impossible.<br/>