Published on : Saturday, September 12, 2015
In a candid conversation with Travel And Tour World, Mr. Ahmet Akpinar, the General Manager, Vietnam of Turkish Airlines revealed some of latest stories of Turkish Airlines and its recently growing network in Asia. TTW asks:
Travel And Tour World: Would you like to speak something about the operations of Turkish Airlines in Vietnam?
Ahmet Akpinar: Turkish Airlines is flying to Saigon for the last five years and we are considering increasing our capacity and that is why we are participating here in ITE HCMC. We are looking for more opportunities in Southeast Asia and as you know we are one of the biggest airlines in the world flying to more destinations we are hopeful about opportunities from all over the world.
The fair out here looks very interesting and attractive and we will be here for another two days!
Travel And Tour World: Turkish Airlines is witnessing a growing market in Southeast Asia, which is the most alluring market according to you?
Ahmet Akpinar: Actually, we have many countries who are excited about Turkey. We see a lot of opportunities in many big countries in Southeast Asia, but to name a few of them Japan, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia are the biggest hot spots. Now, we are expanding in Vietnam as well and we see a very good future prospect. Vietnam can be the fifth or the sixth biggest destination for Turkish Airlines in Southeast Asia.
Travel And Tour World: Speaking about the load factor of Turkish Airlines – how was the last year and how do you see 2015 turning out to be?
Ahmet Akpinar: Our load factor is really very high and on an average it is around 90% year round. We have a very good load factor in Asia following the luxury travel market and increasing travel trends. Like all airlines we are trying to increase our capacity out here and that’s the reason we are here. But again, no matter how much you increase the capacity, t he demand here is always rising.
Travel And Tour World: Would you like to share some of the new features or offers that will allure more travelers on board Turkish Airlines in the future?
Ahmet Akpinar: We are planning to revamp out fleet and introducing Airbus A330s. We are offering onboard WiFi and live television onboard, which is a completely rare feature compared to other airlines. Maybe in the near future we will be rolling out some new routes within Vietnam and Southeast Asia.
Travel And Tour World: How is Turkish Airlines placed with the recent development and trend in digital marketing? Are you doing social media marketing to reach out to your customers?
Ahmet Akpinar: Social media is the biggest channel to reach out to the global customers not only in Asia but all over the world. We are especially concerned about the younger generation and we do a dedicated online marketing for our customers. Our team takes care of all the customer requests and questions and carefully replies to each one of them. Be it Facebook or Twitter or any other digital channel, we have a specific budget for all countries and we are really excited about the response!
Keep visiting our website for more updated news and exclusive interviews from ITE HCMC 2015
Tags: Ahmet Akpinar, Travel and Tour World, Vietnam of Turkish Airlines
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