Airport

Turkey's TAV Airports has announced that it has included the Qassim and Hail airports in Saudi Arabia to its portfolio, which also includes airports in Madinah and Yanbu. 

TAV, with its partner the Al Rajhi Group, will develop the two airports and operate them for 30 years, according to the statement issued on April 24. 

The privatization of 14 regional airports - considered a "prior action" in Greece's bailout program - to a consortium led by Germany's Fraport AG, marks a very positive development.

For decades the image of Greece has been tainted by the unacceptable state of airports at main tourism destinations. It's high time that Greece acquired entry points worthy of the attractions on offer.

The Airports Council International (ACI) has called for the immediate reversal of a ban on electronic devices in aircraft cabins amid efforts from TAV Airports President and CEO Sani Şener, the company said in a statement April 11. 

The management and operation of 14 regional Greek airports will be handed over to Fraport Greece on Tuesday, when the German-Greek consortium will also make a one-off payment of 1.2 billion euros to state sell-off fund TAIPED.

Greek aviation industry professionals are concerned about nasty surprises during the delivery of 14 regional airports conceded to the Fraport consortium this month.

Passengers flying from Greek airports to countries outside the Schengen zone will pay the same airport levy as those flying within the bloc from next month, but the levy will also appear in the prices of tickets for children aged between 2 and 5 for the first time.

The leading international airline trade organization's top official on March 28 denounced U.S. and British bans on some electronic devices on flights from several Muslim-majority countries, criticizing the policies as a move toward "more restricted borders and protectionism."

Turkish Airlines on March 25 began to implement regulations forbidding passengers from carrying electronic devices larger than cell phones aboard the plane, as announced on the airline's website.  According to an Anadolu Agency reporter present at Istanbul's Atatürk Airport, Turkish Airlines personnel have taken passengers' electronic devices such as tablets and laptops at the boarding gate and

Some key words have defined the eras of humanity. These discourses, of course, change from country to country or across different ideologies. At the end of the day, humans succeed in agreeing on few. To describe today's world, let me note "the rise of protectionism," whose generous dashing of populism have left a bad taste in the mouth.

New restrictions on in-cabin large electronic devices on flights from Turkey to the United States and Britain are aimed at stifling economic growth, Turkish Trade Minister Bülent Tüfenkci said March 23.