Turkish Airlines starts daily Manila-Istanbul flights in Febuary

MANILA, Philippines - Turkish Airlines, the national flag carrier of Turkey, is set to begin its daily Manila-Istanbul flight operations in February 2016.

Last June, the Philippines and Turkey signed an air agreement increasing the number of flights between Manila and Istanbul to seven from the current three flights per week.

Turkish Airlines general manager for the Philippines Erhan Balaban said on the sidelines of the Cappadocia B2B event Tuesday night they have the advantage considering Turkey is a major gateway to Europe.

“Operation wise, we are one of the advantaged carriers of direct flights to Istanbul which means that we have a good connection to Europe,” Balaban said in an interview.

He added seat occupancy is at an average of 75 percent per flight and is targeting to reach the highest possible seat occupancy once daily operations start early next year.

 “The load factor is satisfying. The target is to keep the load factor on the satisfying level. Philippines is a diverse market and there are different types of passengers coming from the Philippines,” he noted.