Turkish airline

Service to New Delhi was begun on the 18th of September, and in Turkey, flights to Sivas started on the 17th of October.

The services between Istanbul and New Delhi became a partnership with Air India on the 3rd of November, now covered by a Code Share agreement signed with Air India.  

On 9 December, electronic ticketing was begun and online check-in procedures were adopted.

Also in September, Turkish Airlines inaugurated the "Customer Relations online Service Center" wher customers could register their opinions and complaints using the airline’s website, www.turkishairlines.com.tr.

According to the yearly report published by the Association of European Airlines in December, THY ranked number two among AEA airlines in terms of punctuality and had the second lowest number of mishandled bags.

The number of passengers carried exceeded 12 million.

The annual audit report of the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) completed in February revealed that many units in the THY Maintenance Center operated with zero (0) faults.

On the 27th of March, Casablanca was added to the network, followed by Lisbon on the 7th of June, Oslo on the 21st of June and Astana on the 19th of October.

Dr. Temel Kotil was appointed as the Director General of Turkish Airlines on the 18th of April.

On the 14th of June, flights from Istanbul and Antalya were inaugurated to London’s Stansted Airport.

In the first six months, Turkish Airlines earned 27.5 million TL profit before taxes.

An 'Aviation Safety Assessment' conducted in Turkey by the World Aviation Authority JAA MAST, found that THY is “operating under the highest performance with regards to technical maintenance and repair".

As from November 1, a new pricing model was put into effect, benefitting customers.

The airline made the largest aircraft purchase transaction in its history by adding a total of 59 aircraft to its fleet. The orders included 36 A330-200, A321-200 and A320-200 aircraft from Airbus and 23 B737-800s from Boeing.

A decision was made to serve 23 new international destinations.

On 28 November, THY HABOM A.S., THY TEKNIK A.S. and the THY EGITIM A.S. were established.

On the 15th of December, the first three aircraft of the 59 ordered from Airbus and Boeing joined the fleet as the first new generation Boeing 737-800, an Airbus A320 and Turkey's first Airbus A330 entered service.

Turkish Airlines’ Miles&Smiles members were offered a new program with four different types of cards, each with different advantages.

The 100th aircraft joined the fleet.

The network was rapidly expanded as many new routes were opened; Ljubljana on January 16th, Abu Dhabi on January 22nd, Dushanbe on January 26th, Rostov and Sana on February 3rd, Donetsk on February 7th, Tabriz on February 15th, Kazan on February 28th, Belgrade on March 13th, St. Petersburg on March 15th, Helsinki on March 19th, Muscat route (Doha) on March 24th, Venice on March 31st, Dublin on April 7th, Riga on April 19th, Addis Ababa/Khartoum on the April 22nd, Yekaterinburg on April 26th, Dneprepetrovsk on April 28th, Mumbai on the 5th of May, Minsk on the 25th of May, Osaka of the 14th of June and finally, Lagos on the 27th of July.

In the month of April, Turkish Airlines successfully passed the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) Program, IATA’s operational benchmark, and became Turkey's first “IOSA OPERATOR".

Telephone ticket sales were begun.

The ITU-THY Technical Design Office was established and began its operations under the ITU Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Turkish Airlines announced that it would significantly upgrade its inflight catering through a joint venture with Austria’s Do&Co A.S., leading to new and innovative in-flight offerings.

On 23 May, a company with the commercial title Türk Hava Yolları Teknik A.Ş. was established with 271.325.800TL real capital. All of the shares remained under the ownership of Turkish Airlines, with the subsidiary to operate mainly in the area of technical aircraft equipment and components.

Turkish Airlines was granted the ISO 9001:2000 quality certificate on the 19th of June.

In June, Turkish Airlines Director General Dr. Temel Kotil was appointed as a member of IATA.

On August 1st direct flights to Singapore and Nairobi were begun; the Nairobi service resulting from an agreement between THY and Kenya Airways..

Turkish Airlines was invited to become a member of Star Alliance on the 4th of August, with full membership to be realized in 2008.

A new service was launched on 18 August allowing passengers without baggage to check in and print their boarding cards using the Internet.

On the 9th of December, an agreement protocol regarding THY’s participation in Star Alliance was signed during a ceremony that included Turkish Airlines and existing Star Alliance members.

The Nevsehir route was opened on the 8th of March, followed by Batumi on May 29, with the Istanbul-Johannesburg-Capetown route inaugurated the same day. Additionally, Eskisehir was added on the 21st of June, Medina on the 11th of November and Istanbul-Hatay opened on the 10th of December.

Turkish Airlines was granted the “National Quality Award” in aviation.  

Turkish Airlines established Anadolujet on the 23rd of April, making the connection between Anatolia and Ankara easier and more economical.

Alleppo service began on the 15th of May, followed by the Merzifon on the 23rd of June, Sinop on the 15th of July, Birmingham on the 15th of December and finally Baghdad on the 26th of October.

In April Turkish Airlines became the 20th member of Star Alliance.

A new promotional campaign was begun with the slogan, “Feel Like A Star”.

New domestic and global routes were opened; Usak on the 12th of January, followed by the Canakkale on the 19th of January, Nairobi on the 23rd of February, Ufa on the 5th of March, Mashhad on the 15th of March, Dakar-Sao Paolo on the 5th of April, Benghazi on the 5th of May, Goteborg on the 29th of June, Toronto on the 11th of July, Lviv on the 27th of July and finally, Jakarta on the 3rd of August.

Still more destinations were added: Bologna on March 1st, Dar es Salaam and Entebbe on the 14th of June, Nakhchivan on the 24th of June, Podgorica on the 8th of July, Sochi on the 25th of May, Accra on the 15th of July and finally Washington, D.C. on the 7th of November.

Skytrax, a traveler website based in the UK, rated Turkish Airlines Europe’s best for 2010.

Expansion continued with the addition of Guangzhou on the 31st of January, Shiraz on the 14th of March, Valencia on the 27th of March, Erbil on the 12th of Aril, Toulouse on the 16th of April, Malaga on the 27th of April, Genova on the 4th of May, Basra on the 11th of May, Thessaloniki on the 27th of May, Napoli on the 28th of June, Al Najaf on the 5th of July, Kabul on the 9th of July, Suleymaniah on the 18th of July, Islamabad on the 21th of July and finally ,Torino on the 2nd of August.