Star Alliance welcomes Turkish Airlines

The 20th member of the Star Alliance group of airlines has been officially welcomed to the club. Turkish Airlines held a celebration in Istanbul, to commemorate the 31 new destinations available through the airline, bringing the Star Alliance statistics up to 18,000 daily flights in 162 countries from 965 airports.

Chief executive officer of the Star Alliance Jan Albrecht says, “With Turkish Airlines we have gained a new member carrier with a strong home market which is also one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Moreover, we can now offer the Star Alliance benefits to a large number of new travellers, while at the same time simplifying travel for our existing customers to many of the new emerging markets in Central Asia and the Middle East.”

The region was previously vacant to the Star Alliance, but as chief executive of Turkish Airlines, Temel Kotil says, “This year Turkish Airlines celebrates its 75th anniversary and joining the alliance is an important step for the airline’s future, building on its strength of bridging Europe and Asia through its Istanbul hub and thereby adding value to the Star Alliance network.”

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