Turkish Airlines and Pakistan International Airlines have expanded their codeshare cooperation starting on February 1st, 2017. Inclusion of the new routes will enable both airlines step into new market while offering passengers various possibilities to travel.
With the expansion of the existing codeshare agreement, Pakistan International Airlines will be able to sell Turkish Airlines’ beyond Istanbul points of Atlanta, Johannesburg, Atina, Amsterdam, Tashkent, Moskova, Miami, Boston, Houston, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago with its own airline code and flight number in addition to the already existing cooperation on Istanbul – Karachi/ Islamabad/ Lahore vv. routes; while Turkish Airlines will market Pakistan International Airlines operating flights from Karachi and Islamabad to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Muscat and from Lahore to Dubai and Abu Dhabi with its own airline code and flight number.
Turkish Airlines currently operates 7 frequencies each on the Istanbul – Karachi/Islamabad/Lahore vv. routes. The expanded codeshare cooperation provides passengers with more feasible connections as well as seamless travel opportunities between and beyond destinations of Turkey and Pakistan. Pakistan International Airlines’ Jeddah and Madinah flights and as well as 8 domestic routes from Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore are appended to the renewed SPA in force since January 1st, 2017, which abled Turkish Airlines to reach Pakistan domestic destinations. The new SPA also involves Turkish Airlines’ all American destinations besides most of the European points.
As a matter of course, Turkish Airlines and Pakistan International Airlines will continue to collaborate to enhance the tourism potential and cultural interactions between Turkey and Pakistan while promoting business travel between two brother countries.
CEO and Deputy Chairman of Turkish Airlines, Mr. Bilal Ekşi stated that the passengers will be able to travel with easier connections and more flexible alternatives. He also indicated that; “The more the frequencies between two countries are increased in the future, the further the cooperation between two carriers will be expanded so as to enable passengers to travel with even shorter connection times and more comfortable travel opportunities.”
Regarding the expansion of the cooperation, CEO of Pakistan International Airlines, Mr. Bernd Hildenbrand said; “Pakistan and Turkey are brotherly countries and have close cultural and business cooperation in various areas including aviation. PIA values its commercial relations with Turkish Airlines and expansion of this codeshare will add more value to our commercial ties and be equally beneficial for our customers. We will continue to explore more commercial avenues in future, as well.”
Using Istanbul, the only city settled on two continents at the same time and bridging between Asia and Europe, as its main hub, Turkish Airlines operates to 246 international destinations worldwide, more than 100 of them being on Europe. Thanks to the advantageous geographical location of Istanbul, the cooperation between two carriers will enable passengers departing from Pakistan to travel all over the world by connecting in Istanbul.
