Turkish Airlines planning to make Bangkok its regional hub

Turkish Airlines plans to expand its Bangkok operations later this year, as part of plans to make the destination its regional hub for expansion throughout the Asia Pacific region (The Nation, 23-Feb-2010/Bangkok Post, 24-Feb-2010). Turkish plans to increase frequency on Istanbul-Bangkok service to 10-14 per week if successful in reaching a codeshare agreement Star Alliance partner, Thai Airways. Also under the agreement, it plans to codeshare on Thai's Australian services, before entering the market itself. Turkish is also in talks with Vietnam Airlines to codeshare on Bangkok-Ho Chi Minh City service, which the carrier plans to connect to its Istanbul-Bangkok service in Oct-2010. The carrier is also considering serving Kuala Lumpur and Manila in 2011.

Turkish Airlines: "As a European carrier, Bangkok is the most important destination in the Far East and we have some exciting plans for 2010-2011. Turkish Airlines is also well into talks with Vietnam Airlines on cooperation between Ho Chi Minh and Bangkok in pursuit of making Bangkok as our regional hub linking Southeast Asia with Indochina," Adnan Aykac, General Manager for Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Source: The Nation, 23-Feb-2010.