Barça flies to Qatar Airways from Turkish Airlines

AFP photo

Turkish Airlines has decided not to continue its FC Barcelona traveling sponsorship after June 2013, when its contract with the Catalan team ends.

The national flag carrier’s press release came on the same day as Barcelona’s announcement that it will feature Qatar Airways logo on its 2013-2014 season jerseys as a sponsor.
Barcelona’s current jersey sponsor is the Qatar Foundation.

Spanish newspaper El Mundo Deportivo reported yesterday that the Barcelano-Qatar Airways deal was worth 28 million euros a year. The club did not elaborate on the finances of the deal.

Warm message to Qatar

Sandro Rosell, president of FC Barcelona, welcomed Qatar Airways, publishing on the club’s official website that it is “an ambitious brand with global aspirations, always committed to achieving the utmost excellence in its field. These are objectives with which FC Barcelona fully identifies.”
Qatar Airways started direct flights to Barcelona in 2010.

Turkish Airlines said yesterday that the decision not to renew the deal was made at a recent Istanbul meeting attended by both parties.

The airline will continue sponsoring large organizations such as the Turkish Airlines Euroleague, Turkish Airlines World Golf Final and brand envoys within the scope of its global and regional strategy. It thanked Barcelona for friendly relations and cooperation. Turkish Airlines is also a sponsor of British club Manchester United.

Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines Chief Executive Temel Kotil was selected as the new chairman of the Association of European Airlines (AEA). Kotil will chair the body in 2014 and 2015, after his vice presidency next year. Kotil has managed Turkish Airlines during a time of many changes as the company aggressively increases its destinations. (Hürriyet Daily News)

Turkish Airlines suspends flights over Syria: company official

Hürriyet photo

Turkish Airlines has stopped using Syrian airspace on their flights, a company executive told Anatolia news agency Thursday, amid escalating tensions between Ankara and Damascus.

"Turkish Airlines planes have not been using Syrian airspace for four days now," Hamdi Topcu, chairman of THY executive board, was quoted as saying by the Anatolia.

The planes will continue to avoid Syrian skies and use alternative routes until a secondary safe line is established, he added.

The suspension comes after Turkey and Syria engaged in sporadic cross-border shelling last week, a showdown triggered by the death of five Turkish civilians in a Turkish border town by Syrian shelling.

Damascus says the shellings do not target Turkey but Ankara, infuriated by Turkish casualties, obtained a mandate from the parliament to stage cross-border operations in Syria as "worst case scenario."

Tensions between the former allies were further fuelled on Thursday, when a Syrian plane en route from Moscow to Damascus was forced by Turkish jets to take an emergency landing in Ankara on suspicion that it was carried weapons. (Agence France-Press)

Turkish national air carrier drops partnership plan with Polish LOT

AA Photo

THY said it decided to "wrap-up its work on the privatization of LOT Airlines and take no further step."

Turkey's flag carrier airlines company, the Turkish Airlines, said Friday it abandoned talks for a possible partnership with Poland's LOT.

In a regulatory filing to the Istanbul Stock Exchange, THY said a financial and technical assessment concluded that the possible partnership deal's contribution to the company's medium-to-long term plans would be limited.

THY said it decided to "wrap-up its work on the privatization of LOT Airlines and take no further step." (Anatolia News Agency)

Airline staff start indefinite strike

Hundreds of flights at Atatürk Airport were canceled as a result of a labor action against a legislation that bans strikes in the aviation industry.

Members of Turkey’s Civil Aviation Trade Union (Hava-İş) are planning to launch indefinite action against new legislation approved yesterday which would prohibit strikes on Turkish Airlines, according to labor leaders.

“We will continue with protests everyday between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. at [Istanbul’s] Atatürk Airport,” Hava-İş President Atilay Ayçin said yesterday, adding that the national carrier had terminated the contracts of 300 cabin personnel who participated in a slowdown strike on May 29.

Hundreds of domestic and international flights were canceled on May 29 and May 30 due to the slowdown strike, in which 350 personnel used their right to decline to work a flight by saying they were “not ready to fly.”

Turkish Airlines said the action was illegal.

“Our action is legal, but our colleagues were laid off in an illegal way. They were informed via text message. We will fight for their rights to the end,” Ayçin was quoted as saying by Doğan news agency, noting that they had filed criminal complaints against the carrier.

The laid-off personnel will also be informed in an official manner, said Turkish Airlines Press Secretary Ali Genç, according to daily Radikal. Text messages and emails are only cautionary notices and do not constitute formal terminations of labor contracts, he told the daily, adding that 154 flights were canceled on the first day of strike and 69 on the second day.

The slowdown strike caused $2 million in losses, a company press release said, adding that the company will sue trade union executives to retrieve economic damage. The statement also said that a total of 45 workers at Turkish Airlines Technic had been laid off.

Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ defended the legislation prohibiting the strike, which was part of a wider omnibus bill.

“There may be exemptions [to sectors that are permitted to strike] in all countries in strategic matters, institutions and works,” he said on the sidelines of Istanbul’s Somalia Conference. (Hurriyet Daily News)

Turkish Airlines continues to lay off employees

REUTERS Photo

Forty-five people who supported recent labor action at Turkish Airlines in protest at legislation that will prohibit strikes at the carrier have been fired amid a wave of terminations stemming from the demonstration, daily Hürriyet reported.

The employees all belonged to a sub-company of Turkish Airlines.

THY recently laid off around 300 employees for participating in a slowdown protest on May 29 that led to the cancelations of dozens of domestic and international flights.

The Civil Aviation Trade Union (Hava-İş) said the company fired its employees via text messages and emails, adding that the airline deactivated personnel cards to prevent persona non grata employees from entering airline buildings.

Employees can be fired for missing three days in a row.

The motion prohibiting strikes for aviation workers has been passed by Parliament and is now waiting for President Abdullah Gül’s assent before it will formally become law. (Hurriyet Daily News)

Turkish Airllines strike may continue indefinitely

DHA photo

Cabin personnel of Turkish Airlines went on slowdown strike today to protest a draft law which bans strikes at the airlines.

A total of 104 flights, both domestic and international, were cancelled as a result of the strike at Atatürk Airport, where Turkish Airlines conducts between 400 and 450 flights a day, an official from the press secretariat of the carrier told the Hürriyet Daily News.

Labor contracts cancelled

Turkish Airlines in a written statement deemed the action illegal.

Turkish Airlines management called some employees to inform them that their labor contract had been cancelled, Mustafa Yağcı, general secretary of Hava-İş, told Hurriyet.com.tr.

The strike action will continue indefinitely if even one colleague is harmed, he said.

Simay Çeken, deputy chairman of Hava-İş, said employee member to several Turkish unions arrived in the Atatürk International Airport to support workers.

“The entrance cards of our friends were deactivated, they were fired illegally. Police is isolating us from the passengers and trying to close the strike view,” Çeken told the Hürriyet Daily News yesterday on the phone. (ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News)

Istanbul to host Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four

Istanbul will host the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four on May 11-13.

Istanbul will host the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four on May 11-13.

Teams that will join the final four are Russia's CSKA Moscow, Spain's FC Barcelona Regal and Greece's Olympiacos Piraeus and Panathinaikos Athens.

CSKA Moscow will take on Panathinaikos while Olympiacos Piraeus will play against FC Barcelona Regal in the semifinals that will take place at Sinan Erdem Sports Hall on May 11.

The third place game and the final will be played on May 13.

Euroleague Basketball and Turkish Airlines signed a strategic agreement to sponsor the top European basketball competition across the globe for five seasons ahead of the 2010-2011 season.
(Anadolu News Agency)

Greeks, CSKA, Barça book tickets to Istanbul

Panathinaikos beats Maccabi by one point to put an end to one of the most dramatic playoffs series in European basketball history and will join compatriot Olympiacos, CSKA Moscow and Regal Barcelona in next month’s Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four. The top team of the continent will be crowned in Istanbul

Defending champion Panathinaikos Athens joined Olympiacos, CSKA Moscow and Regal Barcelona in the line-up for next month’s Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four.

Holder Panathinaikos Athens clinched the last berth in the Euroleague Final Four after a dramatic 86-85 home win over Maccabi Tel Aviv on April 5 gave the team a 3-2 win in its best-of-five playoff series.

The Greek side joined compatriots Olympiacos Piraeus, 2010 champions Barcelona and six-time winners CSKA Moscow who qualified last week for the season-ending tournament from May 11-13 in Istanbul.

The showcase event in the Sinan Erdem Dome, the venue of the 2010 world championship, could produce the first all-Greek final as CSKA takes on Panathinaikos and Barcelona clashes with 1997 winners Olympiacos.

On Thursday, Panathinaikos came out on top in the enthralling tie-breaker in front of 18,000 fervent home fans in the OAKA Arena, having clawed their way back into the series by edging out Maccabi in Game 4,

Greece playmaker Dimitris Diamantidis was instrumental in their success with a game-high 25 points, including a decisive free throw with five seconds remaining.

Former Maccabi guard Sarunas Jasikevicius, who won back-to-back Euroleague titles with the Israeli club in 2004 and 2005, added 13 points and three assists with a mature performance worthy of his illustrious career.

Key shots

The 36-year-old Lithuanian, who also had spells with NBA outfits Indiana Pacers and Golden State Warriors, hit several key shots as Maccabi threatened to swing the match their way with a 12-0 run early in the second half.

Panathinaikos replied with a 10-0 rally much to the delight of their Serbian coach Zeljko Obradovic, who has won a record eight Euroleague titles with four different clubs including five at the helm of the Greek champions.

But Maccabi, who trailed by as many as 10 points in the final quarter, refused to lie down and almost forced overtime as Guy Pnini tied the score before Diamantidis sank one of two shots from the foul line.

The visitors had the final possession but came nowhere near a shooting position as a cluster of Panathiniakos players formed a wall in mid-court and forced a turnover.

They embraced each other as jubilant home fans lit flares on the buzzer which signaled the end of a rip-roaring contest between two of Europe’s most heralded basketball giants. (hurriyetdailynews)

THY cancels 42 flights due to strong southwester in Istanbul

Turkey's national air carrier THY has cancelled 42 domestic and international flights on Thursday due to strong southwester in Istanbul.

Turkey's national air carrier Turkish Airlines, or THY, has cancelled 42 domestic and international flights on Thursday due to strong southwester in Istanbul.

In a statement posted on its official web site, the THY said that 42 flights were cancelled on Thursday, including those to Lefkosa, Nice, Bologna, Moscow, Tel Aviv, Sanaa, Mosul, Ankara, Adana, Kayseri, Samsun, Gaziantep, Antalya, Izmir, Trabzon, Van and Erzurum.

The THY asked its passengers to confirm the departure of flights by calling "444 0 849" or by looking at its web site.

Delays are taking place at the Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul due to the strong southwester on Wednesday.

Heavy windstorm is expected to continue in Istanbul until noon on Thursday. (AA)