QATAR: Qatar Airways Introduces Flights To Bodrum

Qatar Airways has inaugurated their brand new Bodrum, service. This is the airline’s sixth gateway in Turkey and the third Turkish route in just nine months.

The carrier will launch services to Antalya on a seasonal basis on June 13.

The twice-weekly flights, operating on Tuesdays and Fridays, will run until September 28 this year and will be operated by an Airbus A320, which will have a 2-class configuration, offering 12 seats in Business and 132 in Economy Class.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said: Today’s inaugural flight to Bodrum, our third new Turkish route in just nine months, demonstrates our commitment to Turkey.

We have seen very high demand for services to Turkey, as both business and leisure travelers show great interest in experiencing all this country has to offer.

We are tremendously excited to be able to provide passengers with the opportunity to visit the beautiful resort city of Bodrum, just in time for the summer holiday season.

Passengers from Bodrum now be able to travel seamlessly through our award-winning Doha Hub, Hamad International Airport (HIA), to any destination in our rapidly-expanding network.

QR317 will depart Bodrum at 0715 local and will arrive in Bodrum for 1155 local. The return, QR318, will depart Bodrum one hour later at 1255 local and arrive into Doha at 1720 local.

This route will connect Turkey with up to more than 150 destinations via Hamad International.

Within Turkey, Qatar operates twice daily services to Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport, 10 weekly flights to Istanbul Ataturk, three weekly flights to Adana, three weekly flights to Hatay as well as daily flights to Ankara.

The carrier’s Turkish expansion ultimately pushes forward with the overall strategy of expanding further into the middle-east, as well as in the less-contested destinations by other Middle-Eastern carriers such as Emirates and Etihad.

With the carrier also likely to be publishing losses following the political blockade, the airline will be wanting to expand into as many markets as possible in order to boost revenues and ultimately profitability in the wake of the situation.


Tourism Observer

TURKEY: Two Injured In Turkish Airport Blast

An explosion occurred in an area of Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport where airplanes were parked, wounding two cleaning staff on a nearby plane, but the cause of the blast was not clear, Pegasus airline said on Wednesday.

It said the blast occurred at 2:05 am (0005 GMT) when no passengers were in the area and that operations were continuing normally at the airport, on the Asia side of the city.

An explosion at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport wounded two cleaning staff on a plane, but the cause of the blast was not clear, Pegasus airline said on Wednesday.

Pegasus said the blast occurred at 2:05am (Cyprus time) when no passengers were in the area and that operations were continuing normally.

Police armed with rifles and protective vests imposed tight security at entrances to the airport after the blast, searching vehicles in the area while a police helicopter circled overhead.

It said one of the cleaners was seriously hurt, suffering a wound to the head, while one was wounded in the hand, and they were both being treated in hospital.

The Sabiha Gokcen airport operator said in a brief statement there was no problem with plane takeoffs and landings at the airport, adding that investigations into the cause of the blast were continuing.