THY aims to increase the number of Chinese tourists to 2 million

Turkish Airlines' first stop in China within the scope of its Turkey promotional activities was Beijing. Turkish Airlines (THY) aims to increase the number of Chinese tourists to 2 million. THY Chairman of the Board Ahmet Bolat said at the THY promotional event held in Beijing, the capital of China, that there is a great potential in the Chinese market and that efforts are continuing to evaluate this potential. Bolat stated that THY operates 21 flights a week to China and plans to increase this number. He also noted that THY is working to strengthen its cooperation with Chinese airline companies. Turkish Airlines, which currently codeshares with Air China, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China Eastern Airlines in order to strengthen cooperation.

It is also working on interline cooperation under Special Promotion Agreement (SPA) with a number of Chinese airlines, with the aim of connecting to more cities in mainland China. "We are also considering adding new routes." According to the information obtained by Haber Aero, with China turning to the foreign tourism market again this year, the number of Chinese tourists coming to Turkey in the first eight months reached 47 percent of the level in 2019. Ahmet Bolat said, “The Chinese market has great potential and Turkish Airlines currently operates seven direct flights a week from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and a total of 21 direct flights to the Chinese mainland. While it is important to strengthen existing routes, we are also considering adding new routes.”

Esra Zincirkıran Aydın, Deputy General Manager responsible for corporate communications of the Turkish Tourism Promotion and Development Agency, also said that the Turkish government is making efforts to attract more Chinese travelers to Turkey. Aydın stated that these efforts include promotional activities on China's main social media platforms and the launch of Turkey's official tourism brand, GoTürkiye.