Turkish Airlines, Turkey’s national flag carrier, was founded in Ankara on 20 May 1933 as “State Airlines Administration,” under the direction of the Ministry of Defence. In 1955, it was restructured into “Turkish Airlines.” 25% of the company was sold via an SPO under a privatisation programme in 2005, and today, 50.9% of the company shares are public, while the rest remain state-owned.

In 2008, Turkish Airlines has kept his position ranked as one of the fastest-growing airlines among European Carriers in terms of capacity and traffic growth. When considering the economical crisis affecting many European Carriers and leading them to decrease their operations; TK has increased its annual passenger and the Available Seat Kilometer’S (ASK s ) by 15% and 11,3% respectively. TK is also proud of conserving its position by handling fewest pieces of lost luggage in 2008. With its fleet of 127 aircraft, last year THY carried 22,5 million passengers and the number of transit passengers has increased by 41,3 % across a network comprised of 112 International and  36 domestic destinations.

Turkish Airlines exhibited a similar success in cargo transport. Taking first place with 8.1% growth in freight ton kilometres (FTK) in the AEA group, it nudged out its closest competitor by a scant 0.1%. Turkish Airlines Cargo sustained its growth by carrying some 200,000 tons of cargo during the year.

Turkish Airlines continues to offer more services and destinations to its passengers by joining the Star Alliance team.