Fast-growing Turkish Airlines, which now claims to operate the world’s seventh-largest flight network, will soon be serving 50 African locations from Istanbul, including secondary cities.
In December alone, the carrier has launched double-destination services to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, and Mombasa, Kenya; to Niamey, Niger, and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; and to Yaounde and Douala, Cameroon.
A fourth destination in Libya, Sebha, was also added this month. New routes to Angola, Gabon, Chad, South Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia are under consideration, continuing a trend that has seen all the large Middle Eastern airlines build extensive African networks.
Beyond Africa, Turkish Airlines has also added services to Isfahan, Iran, and an Istanbul-Sao Paulo-Buenos Aires route.
The carrier aims to double its fleet to 400 aircraft by 2020 and has firmed up an order, initially announced in October, for 15 B777-300ERs with five options. It has also ordered 15 A330-300s.
