Turkey raises the bar on scheduled flights as Borajet adds another ATR-72

Turkey's Civil Aviation authority has stepped up its moves to ensure rationalisation of the country's air transport industry.

Since ending the monopoly of Turkish Airlines five years ago, a number of new AoCs have been issued and there has been a massive growth in the number of small operators.

However, the civil aviation authority has now determined that an airline must have a minimum of five aircraft with which to begin scheduled services.

As a result, Turkish regional carrier Borajet announced plans this week to add another ATR 72-500 to its fleet.

"At the moment we have four ATR 72-500 in the fleet. In December, we will add one more," said Borajet general manager Kadir Peker. The company, which has a code-sharing agreement with Ankara-based Anadolu Jet, a subsidiary of Turkish Airlines, is also looking to add more ATRs in the future.