It is all about brand and THY has spent more money on branding over the past twelve months than most airlines in the world, but since Friday night’s failed coup, business has been somewhat hard for THY. The FAA has put a ban on all airlines flying from Turkey to the United States: “All airline carriers, regardless of country of registry, are prohibited from flying into the United States from Turkey either directly or via third country,” the US Embassy in Ankara said. The Embassy warned travelers that “security at [Istanbul’s] Ataturk airport is significantly diminished.”
The FAA has also banned any US registered aircraft from flying into Turkey but that’s less of an issue for most people, as Delta, the last US carrier that considered flying to Istanbul, recently suspended the service it had planned to start in May. The FAA’s ban also includes private aircraft.
The FAA did not say how long its ban would last.
Turkish flies nonstop to Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Houston, San Francisco, Washington Dulles and Chicago.
Turkish Airlines has said it has cancelled 196 domestic and international flights in and out of Istanbul due to disruptions in air traffic and airport congestion.
The FAA has cut Turkey off from the USA in totality, citing lack of airport security – So why has the EU not moved to do the same? The impact to THY’s bottom line from both flight cancellations and lost future revenue will be severe with Emirates and Etihad likely to be the main beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, the impact of the Nice attack last week will also have a significant effect on traveller numbers in the EU. Terrorist action is having a huge impact on all major airlines in Europe at this time, which is somewhat ironic given that the most likely explanation of the shift in terrorist targets away from airport/aviation is improved security.
And at the close of the Farnborough International Airshow, organisers confirmed that the show had recorded orders and options to the value of US$123.9. Farnborough International’s internal order tracker recorded a total of 856 aircraft valued at US$93.98, 1407 engines valued at US$22.7 billion and a variety of other business deals totalling £7.2 billion.