Turkish Airlines announces direct flights to Phuket

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Turkish Airlines announces direct flights to Phuket

Phuket Gazette - 

 

Ms Pataraporn Sithivanich (4th from left), TAT Executive Director for Europe, Africa and Middle East Region; H.E. Mrs. Evren Dağdelen Akgün (3rd from left), Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey in Thailand; Mr. Bilal Ekşi (5th from left), Deputy Chairman and CEO of Turkish Airlines; and other representatives from leading Thai and Turkish tourism organizations.

 

PHUKET: -- The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has announced the launch of new Turkish Airlines flights to Phuket this week. There are now four direct flights per week from Istanbul.

“This new Istanbul-Phuket service is part of the collaboration between the TAT and Turkish Airlines to meet the growing demand for travel to Thailand from holiday-makers from Turkey, Europe and Latin America. In addition, 2018 marks 60 years of Thai-Turkish relations, and the TAT is planning to organize cultural and tourism activities in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Thailand,” said Pataraporn Sithivanich, the TAT's Executive Director for Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Turkish Airlines inaugurated its Istanbul-Phuket route on July 17 with the first flight carrying 210 passengers, including 20 members of the media from Turkey. 

 

Full story: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Turkish-Airlines-announces-direct-flights-Phuket/66793?desktopversion

 

-- © Copyright Phuket Gazette 2017-07-21

[1337markus]

Worst airline I travelled on. Wont accept code sharing with alliance partners. You have to get your bags and rebook.

[kurtmartens]

19 minutes ago, 1337markus said:

Worst airline I travelled on. Wont accept code sharing with alliance partners. You have to get your bags and rebook.

Depends on the class of service you fly.  I fly their business class and its actually very good.  They have always transferred my bags without any issues - even to airlines not in Star Alliance like Emirates or Royal Jordanian.

 

This could be great news for the tourist industry in Phuket.

Edited July 21, 2017 by kurtmartens

[schlog]

Turkey is famous for only 3 things. Hijab, kebab and belly dance.

I'm not so sure we need more from this here on HKT.

[hkt83100]

6 hours ago, schlog said:

Turkey is famous for only 3 things. Hijab, kebab and belly dance.

I'm not so sure we need more from this here on HKT.

Don't forget at least a few more: ignoring human rights, progressing to dictatorship, ...

[scotchonrocks]

 

16 hours ago, schlog said:

Turkey is famous for only 3 things. Hijab, kebab and belly dance.

I'm not so sure we need more from this here on HKT.

 Ripping folks off too: Thailand (in particular Phuket) and Turkey, great bed partners indeed.

[1337markus]

kurtmartens. You are lucky to afford business class. Most people settle for coach class on Turkish airlines. Myself and the travel agency both checked in on line and reserved seats; each time I was bumped to the last row, no explanation. Istanbul airport if you are in transit take a big book to read, boring barn that sells the so called duty free stuff all the same in every store, coffee 9 Euros.

[kurtmartens]

6 hours ago, 1337markus said:

kurtmartens. You are lucky to afford business class. Most people settle for coach class on Turkish airlines. Myself and the travel agency both checked in on line and reserved seats; each time I was bumped to the last row, no explanation. Istanbul airport if you are in transit take a big book to read, boring barn that sells the so called duty free stuff all the same in every store, coffee 9 Euros.

I was merely pointing out that the class of service is directly related to the service level you get from the airline; not just Turkish, but all airlines.  And not that I want to end up in a tiff about all this, but IST airport isn't so bad.  It certainly isn't DXB or HKG I agree.  The prices are also high, but Istanbul itself is an expensive city.  

[GiantFan]

Turk website quotes thb 45k to London return.  Emirates thb 30k.  

Edited July 22, 2017 by GiantFan

[illy]

Lets hope they land their planes better than they did in Amsterdam a few years ago.

[schlog]

15 hours ago, GiantFan said:

Turk website quotes thb 45k to London return.  Emirates thb 30k.  

Yupp not exactly competitive.

C-class for F-class price.

[Old Croc]

Rated #12 top airline:

 

http://www.worldairlineawards.com/awards/world_airline_rating.html

 

Then again, Garuda is now rated #10.  They were once banned from flying to Europe.

[geriatrickid]

On 7/21/2017 at 4:26 AM, kurtmartens said:

Depends on the class of service you fly.  I fly their business class and its actually very good.  They have always transferred my bags without any issues - even to airlines not in Star Alliance like Emirates or Royal Jordanian.

 

This could be great news for the tourist industry in Phuket.

Sorry, but the airline is awful. The consensus of <deleted> is that the airline has  4 key deficiencies;

1. IROPS:  When something goes wrong, pax are  abandoned, and poorly served including  premium pax.

2. Seat configuration and seat quality itself is out of date. Why would anyone pay a J class fare to sit in an angled seat or to not have direct aisle access? The B777 is 2-3-2 and the ancient  AB 330 fleet is 2-2-2

3. Connections and flight schedules are not stellar, often forcing pax to overnight at the decrepit IST airport with its expensive visa requirements and awful security lines.

4. The Business class lounge is often crowded and stuffy now.

 

And as a side issue, anyone  with a modicum of social responsibility and a respect for the tens of thousands of academics, civil rights workers and attorneys,  and journalists incarcerated by  the despot Erdogan avoids his favourite airline.