Turkey expands flight scope...

                                            
The rectorate General of Civil Aviation, or SHGM, has started an initiative to expand Turkey's flight network, an economic publication reported in its latest issue.

Turkey is among the rising stars in the world's air traffic, which grows 5 percent on average annually, with both the increasing number of passengers and new routes, Turkish economy weekly Ekonomist said.
The directorate, which entered bilateral aviation agreements with 13 countries last year, reached the same figure within the first seven months of this year. It is expected that there will be further deals with 11 more countries by the end of the year.

As of today, Turkey has bilateral agreements with 90 countries. Within the context of these agreements, Turkey organizes tariff flights to approximately 120 destinations in 70 countries. Germany is the top route for Turkey with 276 flights per week from the country. The United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland and France are the other top countries in the ranking.

The world's tariff cargo traffic will increase by 6.6 percent annually between 2005 and 2025, said Ali Ariduru, managing director of SHGM. "The top increase will take place in the Middle East and Asia/Pacific region. Therefore, the issue bore special importance during negotiations with the Russian Federation, Uzbekistan and Iraq," he said. The directorate will also focus on the African and American continents to secure further agreements next year, he said, adding that several countries including India, Australia, Algiers and Finland as well as other Scandinavian countries are also on this year's negotiation agenda.

D-8 organization is keen to deepen aviation cooperation among its memberstates. Last June this year, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of the Republic of Indonesia hosted the Third D-8 Working Group on Civil Aviation and Director Generals' Meeting in Bali, Indonesia. The meeting resulted in many progress, among others is flag carrier Garuda Indonesia forged partnership with Turkish Airlines to expand their market network in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Under an MoU agreement signed on Indonesia's Bali resort island, which came during the 3rd meeting of the Working Group of Civil Aviation of D-8 Countries, the two companies will jointly launch promotion to boost people traffic between Turkey and Indonesia.