European airlines face growth problems in non-EU member Turkey: easyJet

easyJet's Austria, Turkey and Eastern Europe marketing manager, Peter Voets stated that European aviation companies face difficulties in Turkey as the country is not a member of the European Union (Today's Zaman, 18-May-2011). Moreover, Mr Voets said Turkey has a competitive market for LCCs but despite this they expect to reach an 85% passenger occupancy rate from Turkey and a 16% increase in capacity this summer compared with last summer. He added: "Having strong competitors like Pegasus Airlines and Turkish Airlines, it's quite hard to penetrate the Turkish market. Still, we have strong growth plans in Turkey for the future."

easyJet: "Since our establishment in Turkey five years ago, we [easyJet] have carried more than 1.3 million passengers from Turkey to 13 locations around the world. Turkey has great potential for easyJet; however, it is hard to develop in a country that is a non-EU member. Being outside the member area makes it difficult to grow here," Marketing manager, Peter Voets. Source: Today's Zaman, 18-May-2011.