Travel News | Travel Advice

Turkish Airlines has revealed highly impressive profits for 2008, in a climate where many airlines are struggling to even break even. The net profit for 2008 was $712 million USD, and this is up more than four times against the figures posted in 2007.

The increased profit is, in part, due to an increase in passenger numbers, which stand at 22.6 million – an impressive increase of 15%. The first part of 2009 also saw a rise in passenger numbers with 3.1 million travelling in the first two months alone,

Turkish Airlines now has a fleet of 127 aircraft and is planning further expansion. Its newest long haul route operates from Istanbul to Sao Paulo, Brazil via Dakar.

Turkish Airlines has an impressive destination list with long and short haul flights serving 152 cities, 116 of which are abroad.

Turkey is proving to be a popular holiday destination for many British holidaymakers, who are searching for cheap flights and deals to the sun in regions outside the Euro Zone.

Thomson and First Choice, both part of TUI Travel, have been forced to delay expansion plans for flights and holidays to long haul destinations due to the delayed delivery of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft it has on firm order.

TUI Travel have 23 of the new Boeing aircraft on firm order and Boeing have pushed the entire delivery schedule back. The introduction of new long haul destinations for both Thomson and First Choice is now no longer possible.

The delay in the delivery of the 787 aircraft is quite significant. First Choice Airways (which became part of the TUI group in 2007) was due to receive the first of the 23 787 Dreamliner aircraft in February 2009. This date has been put back to at least March 2011.

First Choice and Thomson are both now taking bookings for long haul holidays departing in 2010. These holidays can be secured with a deposit of just £100 and include destinations such as Sri Lanka, Cuba and the Maldives.

First Choice boasts some of the best long haul cabins in the UK, with economy customers receiving a generous 33” seat pitch, leather seats and a free pampering pack.

UK holiday makers appear to be reacting to the weak value of the Pound against the Euro by switching their bookings to non Euro Zone destinations such as Turkey, Bulgaria and Egypt.

To meet this increased demand Monarch (www.monarch.co.uk), has announced further expansion to its Turkey flying schedule for this summer as the Pound remains relatively healthy against the Turkish Lira.

An additional charter flight from Gatwick to Antalya will operate weekly from 27 May meaning that Monarch will operate twice weekly flights from Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham to Turkey’s Mediterranean Coast this Summer. Services to Antalya operate in addition to Monarch’s charter flights to Dalaman and Bodrum, which also depart from Monarch’s key UK bases.

Cheap flights to Turkey with Monarch start from £258 per person inclusive of all taxes, charges and 20kg of hold baggage. Flights can be booked via www.monarch.co.uk.

Monarch currently operates a fleet of 31 aircraft, serving over 100 destinations world-wide. Services are split between scheduled and charter flights, with the airline carrying over 7 million passengers per year.

Monarch’s flying schedule to Turkey during Summer 2009 will operate as follows:

Antalya (Mediterranean Coast)
Gatwick – two flights per week
Manchester – two flights per week
Birmingham – two flights per week
Dalaman (Turquoise Coast)
Gatwick – ten flights per week
Manchester – five flights per week
Bodrum (Agean Coast)
Gatwick – two flights per week
Manchester – one flight per week
Birmingham – one flight per week

Clickair, a budget, low-cost airline based in Spain, has recently launched a new initiative to allow customers to hold seats on any of its flights for a small charge of €2 per seat. This allows the customer to reserve a seat for up to 24 hours before confirming or cancelling the booking.

This may prove popular, because many passengers booking with low cost airlines feel pressured into buying a ticket straight away for fear of the price rising if they delay.

The Clickair initiative is believed to be the first of its kind in the aviation industry and no doubt other airlines will be keeping a close eye on it in order to determine if it is a path they should follow.

If you are looking for flights within the Middle East then you may want to consider booking with low-cost airline Jazeera Airways.

The Kuwait based airline is well known in the region for offering cheap flights and in a bid to secure even more passengers the airline has introduced what it calls “Happy Hour”.

Jazeera passengers looking to book their flight tickets online should wait until 1pm. For one hour until 2pm the airline will offer a different special offer on certain routes every day for at least the next 12 months, so you could grab yourself a real bargain flight.

The airline’s Chief Commercial Officer, Steven Greenway, is quoted saying “We remain committed to constantly giving our passengers even greater freedom to fly within the region and beyond…The launch of Happy Hour is one way that we can drive value back to our passengers.”