Turkish Airlines takes pride in their position as providing service to the most countries of any airline. The airline announced they will be suspending international flights to all but five destinations.
The carrier now says 85% of its operations are impacted across both domestic and international routes.
On the international front Turkish Airlines will reduce its operation to just five airports: Hong Kong, Addis Ababa, Moscow, New York City, and Washington, DC.
It remains interesting as to see why these cities were chosen.
Like many airlines Turkish Airlines is also facing cash flow pressures as passengers demand refunds for cancelled flights. The carrier’s response, however, is very different from the others.
Turkish Airlines Offering Miles for Rebooking
Local reports indicate that passengers have been given the below option:
The company will offer 1,000 bonus miles for every 10 Euros of the ticket price that they choose to postpone rather than refund.
This is an amazing earning potential for consumers, assuming it proves accurate. A €2,000 ticket would, based on this report, earn an additional 200,000 points, should the customer chose to receive points instead of a cash refund.
Even if the numbers are not entirely accurate on the earning bonus, the concept is a compelling one. It drives loyalty and customer goodwill while helping the airline preserve cash.
The situation just keeps getting more and more extreme from the perspective of airlines, as Emirates today have also announced drastic cuts.
Cover Photo by Clement Alloing
Bibi..you left out the reason why Turkish have kept flying to 5 cities out of a network of 300 cities. You never mentioned Hong Kong??
I get why Turkish Airlines chose those 5 cities. It’s all business/finance plus huge ex-pat population in NYC, diplomatic in DC, lots of Russians living & working in Turkey. Addis Ababa might seem an odd choice but Turkey is 2nd-biggest investor in Ethiopia (2.5 billion USD—textile, construction etc) and Turkish firms employ highest # of workers in Ethiopia’s private sector.
Thanks for sharing this.