Turkish Airlines aiming to fly to 205 global destinations in 2013

Turkey’s flagship carrier Turkish Airlines has indicated that it wants to offer flight services to some 205 international destinations by the end of 2013. The airline is also planning to have at least 38 domestic destinations in its network this year.

Temel Kotil, Chief Executive of Turkish Airlines, said that the airline has decided to increase its transit traffic to 70 percent of the international total by 2020 from about 40 percent. He said that by 2020 the airline is planning to carry more than double the number of passengers it presently carriers.

Kotil said that a new airport in Istanbul is likely to give a boost to passenger traffic being currently handled by Turkish Airlines. He said that the main Ataturk International Airport is approaching its capacity limit, thus necessitating a new airport.

According to Kotil, Turkish Airlines has to presently rely the most on its domestic market where it is able to find a sizable portion of its passengers. He however said that the airline doesn’t want to rely too heavily on the domestic demand. He said that to boost its future prospects Turkish Airlines now wants to add more destinations in Africa and Europe, including Marseille and Nantes in France to attract in transit passengers.

Kotil said that Turkish Airlines is aiming to keep the earnings margin at about 16 percent in the coming years , which will be based on earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization. He said that the airline’s revenue will advance to $9.7 billion in 2013 from $8.3 billion in 2012.