Turkish airlines and airports reap rewards from bet on pandemic recovery

Turkey’s aviation industry is booming as airlines and airports reap the rewards from years of investment and a bet that international travel would rebound from the pandemic more swiftly than rivals anticipated. The country’s main airlines — flag carrier Turkish Airlines and low-cost airline Pegasus Airlines — ferried 115mn passengers last year, up 10% from 2019, the year before the pandemic. This compares with global air passenger volumes, which are only likely to exceed pre-pandemic levels this year, according to trade group Airports Council International. Istanbul airport was the busiest in the region in terms of flight numbers last year, according to data firm OAG, while Turkish Airlines was the third-busiest airline, behind Ryanair and easyJet. The rapid expansion of Turkey’s aviation sector compared with rivals has led the country to become a dominant player in the European market. The growth comes as the country’s airlines and airports have invested in upgraded infrastructure and fleets, and were quick to bring back capacity following the pandemic. Turkey’s buoyant tourism industry has also provided a boost. “Turkish aviation was on the rise since before the pandemic . . . in terms of infrastructure and Turkish carriers [also] had the appetite to grow. And once we grew our capacity, we were getting the demand,” said Güliz Öztürk, chief executive of Istanbul-listed Pegasus Airlines. The rise of Turkish aviation stands in sharp contrast to the picture in western Europe, where parts of the industry are in retreat. The region’s big national airline groups, British Airways owner IAG, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa, are still flying smaller schedules than in 2019, after cautiously rebuilding their businesses from the pandemic disruption.<br/>