- Turkish Airline willing to Partner Nigeria Carriers
Turkish Airline operators envisaged to code-share flight in the Nigeria aviation industry, given that the country had a functional national carrier.
According to the airline operators code-sharing is one of the missing global best practices that facilitates more flexible flight operations and fosters continuous growth revenue business deals for host countries.
But, that Nigeria is yet to have a national flight carrier made it impossible for foreign airlines to have effective code-sharing agreements in the sector.
According to the Country Manager, Turkish Airlines in Nigeria, Mr. Tarkan Ince who made this known in a recent interview explained that Copa Airlines and Turkish Airlines had started code-sharing flights tin Europe and Latin America with the wish to domesticate such deal in Nigeria.
“We have had many code-sharing deals with many national carriers across the world and we would have loved to strike similar deal in Nigeria. This would have facilitated more flexible flight operations between Nigeria and other countries where Turkish Airlines has flight rights,” he said.
With the code-sharing flight agreement between Turkish Airlines and Copa Airlines, passengers from several destinations in Latin America and Europe enjoyed seamless connections through the carriers’.
Copa Airlines, subsidiary of Copa Holdings, S.A., and Turkish Airlines, both members of Star Alliance, the leading global airline network, signed the Codeshare Agreement to offer passengers more flight options with seamless connections through Copa’s Hub of the Americas, in Panama City, and Turkish’s seamless gateway to Europe through the company’s Hub, in Istanbul, Turkey.
The strategic Hub of the Americas of Copa Airlines, in Panama City, will allow passengers coming from Istanbul fast and efficiently connect to 74 destinations in America and the Caribbean, including the most important cities of the region.
Also, with this codeshare agreement, the Latin American passengers traveling with Turkish Airlines through its uniquely positioned hub, Istanbul, that bridges the East and the West, will have more entry options to Europe also Africa, Asia/ Far East and Middle East.
Mr. Pedro Heilbron, chief executive officer of Copa Airlines, said, “This agreement between Copa Airlines and Turkish Airlines has great importance since it contributes to strengthen the connectivity between Latin America with Istanbul and the rest of Europe. Passengers from both hemispheres will benefit from world-class services and seamless connections through the hubs of the codeshare partners.”
Initially, Turkish will place its code on Copa flights between Panama City and David in Panama; Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro, Manaus, Belo Horizonte and Sao Paulo in Brazil; Santo Domingo and Punta Cana in Dominican Republic; Guayaquil and Quito in Ecuador; San Salvador in El Salvador; Asuncion in Paraguay; Lima in Peru.
On the other hand, Copa will place its code on Turkish operated flights between Panama and Istanbul. Progressively, as government approvals are granted, Turkish will also place its code on Copa flights to Cancun, Mexico City, and Guadalajara in Mexico; Managua in Nicaragua; San Jose in Costa Rica and Montevideo in Uruguay in order to expand the range of these codeshare flights into the region.
“We are delighted to begin codeshare cooperation with Copa Airlines, which will improve our partnership as Star Alliance partners and also provide unique travel opportunities to the passengers through the far-reaching flight networks of both airlines. Especially, with our flights to Panama City operated from our incomparably positioned hub, Istanbul, passengers would enjoy to travel all around the continent with Copa Airlines’ flights from Panama City,” Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Turkish Airlines, Mr. Bilal Ekşi, said.
