Star Alliance

The chairman of Turkish Airlines has said that the company will make a final decision on plans for a record-breaking order of 600 aircraft in two months.

The airline is in talks with U.S. aircraft maker Boeing and its European rival Airbus to purchase 400 single-aisle planes along with 200 jumbo jets, said chairman Ahmet Bolat.

Slovenia has been beset by poor air connectivity since the demise of Adria Airways in 2019 and has struggled to attract foreign carriers to Ljubljana with subsidies. After months of rumours, it appears a push will now be made to create a new air carrier based on studies showing that not having a national carrier has had a significant impact on the economy.

A deal between the Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TİM) and Turkish Airlines on cargo shipment has produced good results, helping companies boost their exports.

Under the deal, Turkish Airlines offers up to a 30 percent discount on cargo fees, which resulted in a 23 percent increase in export volume.

Aegean showed record results for the first quarter of the year, which is traditionally seasonally weak.

The airline increased its consolidated turnover by 90% year-on-year, to 229.1 million euros, which is also up by 33% from the first quarter of 2019.

Turkish Airlines aims to boost its consolidated revenue over $50 billion by 2023, the flag carrier has announced in a filing with Borsa Istanbul, outlining its strategy and targets for 2023-2033.

The Holy Fire, flown to Greece each year from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, is set to arrive on a special Aegean Airlines flight on Saturday evening, in time for Easter midnight mass.

Accompanying the Holy Fire on the Aegean aircraft will be a small diplomatic mission and the plane is expected to land at Athens international airport at approximately 6 p.m.

The Finnish air carrier Finnair re-launched scheduled flights between Helsinki and Ljubljana after a three-year hiatus on 10 April. It will be flying between the two capitals four times a week.

Finnair will be flying an Airbus A319 to Helsinki on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Flights from Ljubljana will depart at 9:25am and arrive in Helsinki at 1.05pm local time.

Aegean reported a significant increase in passenger traffic during the winter period, reflecting the airline's investment in the weakest quarter of the year and the positive outlook of tourism in the country.

Passenger traffic exceeded 2019 levels by 5% in the first quarter of 2023 and jumped 72% compared with 2022, totaling 2.6 million passengers.

Last year Aegean Airlines outperformed its record of 2019, when there had been no Covid-19 restrictions.

Compared to the last year before the pandemic, the airline group added 2% in turnover and 36% in profits after taxes, which amounted to 1.34 billion euros and €107 million respectively.

SunExpress, a joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, will reach the largest network in its history this summer, adding 26 new routes, and plans to carry more than 12 million passengers by the end of the year.