[SAS]

[SAS]

According to Wikipedia, British Airways carried 45.2 million passengers in 2017, although the 2018 figures are not available.

According to Wikipedia, the Lufthansa Group ( emphasis GROUP which includes Austrian, Swiss Air and a few others ) carried 130 million in 2017. I was not able to find the statistics for Lufthansa Airlines individually, but I know they have 296 planes in the Lufthansa fleet, as opposed to Turkish Airlines 341 ( cargo included )

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capetonianm

[SAS]

I flew with Turkish Airlines in 2005 between the US and India. I was not terribly impressed with their inflight service back then, but I know they have improved in terms of their inflight product tremendously since then and have won multiple awards and rave reviews online and on Youtube. I liked the fact that Ataturk Airport allowed passengers to rent hotel rooms for two hours at a time and get showers and naps in the process.

I have no plans to fly with them in the near future, but I would not mind at all and would love to see their new hub.

[DavidSmith2]

very topical for me! My wife and I use Turkish Airlines quite often as there are not many other options between Accra, Ghana and central Europe.

My wife is actually at Istanbul airport as I write, having arrived around 06.30 this morning – too late for her connecting flight. So she has had plenty of chance to check the new facility, waiting 10.5 hours for the next flight. Hopefully she will be boarding soon.

In the meantime, I am trying to get a compensation claim in for the delay. First step was to connect with the company via their Facebook Page. I already have a reference number and a commitment to respond within 5 working days. A decent start but we’ll see how it ends up.

By my calculation, based on the Turkish rules (not EU as not eligible for that), she should get 600 EUR. But I won’t hold my breath!

[capetonianm]

I find it ironic that TK consider themselves as a European airline, to get a bit of extra credibility perhaps, and yet they don’t adhere to EU261. However according to your statement, they have their own rules or compensation which appear to mirror EU261.

Please keep the forum informed, and good luck.

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DavidSmith2

[SAS]

Turkish Airlines’ biggest hub is located in Istanbul on the European side of the Bosphorus and so they ARE a European airline. In fact, in the Skytrax awards, they have been as Europe’s best airline and the best airline in Southern Europe. So they are a European Airline but not an EU one, I suppose like Aeroflot, Swiss Airlines and Icelandair, even if they are often compared to the Middle East 3.

[capetonianm]

in the Skytrax awards, they have been as Europe’s best airline and the best airline in Southern Europe.

We all know what the Skytrax awards are worth. In case you are in any doubt, I wipe things of greater value off the bottom of my shoes after I’ve taken the dogs out for a walk!

Technically Turkey is IATA TC area 2, Europe, but it is a bit of a stretch of credibility to consider it as a European country with about 5% of its land area and just over 10% of its population in geographic Europe. Nor are Turks Caucasian/Aryan people.

I have nothing against Turks or Turkey, in fact quite the opposite, and I say this lest someone decides to mark this comment as ‘racist’ (not that I could care), but the facts belie the claims to be ‘Europe’.

[SAS]

The Skytrax awards are worth a great deal, given they are the largest airline passenger survey in the world and are considered the Oscars of the airline industry. What Skytrax says carries weight and is credible, even if everyone ( myself included ) occasionally disagree with their views.

Turkish Airlines has its biggest hub on the European side of the Bosphorus and hence is considered European by Skytrax and the Association of European airlines, of which is is a member. In fact, one of Turkish Airlines’ former CEOs is currently the President of the Association of European airlines. His name is Temel Kotil.

Contemporary Turks are an amalgam of different races, including fair skinned ones who could pass for Europeans or even Scandinavians. There are Turks who look like Arabs or Indians. There are even Afro Turks. So that resembles an increasingly cosmopolitan and multiracial Europe where there are Europeans of all races. Not that this is relevent to this discussion.

Turkey is partly Asian and part European but their national airline is European by virtue of its location.

[SAS]

Actually Turkish WAS a member of the AEA until it closed down in 2016………

[capetonianm]

The Skytrax awards are worth a great deal, given they are the largest airline passenger survey in the world and are considered the Oscars of the airline industry. What Skytrax says carries weight and is credible, even if everyone ( myself included ) occasionally disagree with their views.

Sorry but along with some of your other outlandish and incorrect claims I am afraid you are about as (in)credible as Skytrax and I’m not going to engage any further with you in a futile argument.

[SAS]

Which outlandish claims are you referring to ? My claims regarding the passenger and fleet numbers are fact checked fron Wikipedia.

[simeoncox]

[quote quote=950078]CWoodward´…to say the least damming. [/quote]

I presume you mean ‘damning’.

[CathayLoyalist2]

Simeoncox – correct. I just wanted to ensure people were paying attention!!

[DavidSmith2]

Well to update from my post of 1 August, I have today received an email from Turkish Airlines confirming the details of the delay (a mix of fuel pump and staff shortage) and confirming that I will receive a 600 EUR compensation claim. No argument, no fuss.

Of course the money is not in my account yet, but the credit note is confirmed and, in reality, I will bank it for the next flight as we use them every couple of months. Basically I have received something close to a free flight from them (Accra-Ljubljana return).

My only advice is to raise the ticket through their facebook page in the first instance and then be polite but firm in correspondence. It seems to have worked for me.

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capetonianm

[canucklad]

Happy it worked out for you David, flabbergasted that TK has managed to resolve your complaint.
Maybe their customer relations team have been to charm school recently : )

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