Skift Take
Turkish Airlines has had a terrible month, but the airline could bounce back faster than some passengers might expect.
Few airlines have expanded as rapidly in the past decade as Turkish Airlines, including in the United States, where it now serves nine cities and Europe, where it flies to roughly 100.
But in recent weeks, Turkish has had more setbacks than any other airline, first with a major terrorist attack at its Istanbul hub, and then with an attempted coup in Turkey, which lead U.S. officials to ban all of its flights in and out of the U.S. for three days.
Turkish's U.S. flights resumed Tuesday after American officials confirmed security at Istanbul Atatürk Airport met their standards. But given Turkish's recent problems, it's not clear whether or when passengers from the United States and Europe will return en masse to Turkey's national airline. This is important, because one of the airline's strengths is not bringing visitors to Turkey, but carrying international connecting traffic, especially Americans and Europeans traveling to second and third tier cities in Africa and the Middle East.
Turkish receives less attention than rivals Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, and Emirates Airline, in part because it is less controversial. Turkish, part of the Star Alliance with United Airlines and Air Canada, has not been accused by U.S. carriers of taking illegal subsidies. But in many respects, Turkish, almost half owned by Turkey's government, operates just as Gulf carriers do.
Like Emirates, Etihad and Qatar, Turkish, which says it flies to more countries than any other airline, capitalizes on its centralized geography to offer travelers easy connections to and from Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Turkish has a vast network, making it a strong option for travelers on routes like M
