Turkish takes on Emirates and Etihad in African market battle

Turkish Airlines is developing a strategy to make it an obvious hub for passengers between Africa and either Asia or Europe.

The airline will begin a double-drop service from Istanbul to Entebbe, Uganda and Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania on June 13. The airline has already dramatically increased its operations in Africa from its Istanbul Ataturk hub, by almost quadrupling the number of weekly flights it offers to Africa since June 2005. Today it operates over 90 weekly flights to 12 destinations.

Although passenger data points to a light traffic flow from Istanbul to Dar-es-Salaam and Entebbe, Turkish will be looking to tap into its wider European network, focusing on inbound traffic that can transit through its Istanbul hub.

Turkish said that it will wet-lease an A330 to open the latest African routes and has publically stated its intention to continue growing from Istanbul, with 14 new routes this year - growth of nearly 30%. Its new wide-body deliveries and leased aircraft will play a dual role in supporting this growth.

The Turks focus on Africa follows the announcement by Middle East competitors Emirates and Etihad that they will begin new services to Africa. In March, Emirates announced a new service to Dakar and will start flying to Senegal's capital this September. Meanwhile, Etihad inaugurated new services from Abu Dhabi to Cape Town in September.