ISTANBUL: Turkish Airlines continues to be the carrier that flies boldly into the pandemic, operating almost 800 flights per day across the first week of April. With one eye on COVID-19 safe operations, the airline has recently been rewarded with an upgrade from the Safe Travel Barometer. Its score of 4.1 puts it fourth in the world for COVID safety and makes it the top airline in Turkey for clean and safe travel.
Throughout the pandemic, Turkish Airlines has maintained as much flying as possible, reaching 200 destinations served by October last year. To date, it remains the most active carrier in Europe, operating almost 800 flights per day, more than double the number of the next most active carrier, Lufthansa.
At the beginning of March, Turkish Airlines operated just over 600 flights per day, but as the summer season progresses, the airline is keenly ramping up operations. In the week ending April 4th, it operated an average of 797 flights, an increase of more than 32% from the level flying just a month ago. While the overall picture in Europe is one of declining flights, Turkish Airlines layered on more capacity, adding 14.1% additional flights week on week.
The airline has implemented all available measures to prevent the spread of COVID on its flights. Measures undertaken include the disinfection of all high-touch items between services, including blankets, pillowcases, and textiles. The cabin crew donned full PPE for all flights to and from high-risk areas, and the airline was keen to note that its onboard HEPA filters were adequately employed to remove contaminants from the cabin air.
Turkish Airlines’ efforts have not gone unnoticed. Safe Travel Barometer evaluates the safest airlines and airports in relation to COVID-19 and has uprated Turkish Airlines’ ranking in its latest leaderboard.
Like many other airlines, Turkish Airlines chose to suspend hot food service as part of its COVID safety measures. Now, passengers can look forward to improved service on long-haul flights, as the hot food option returned to Turkish Airlines from March 1st, 2021.
