- Cyprus Turkish Airlines
-
Cyprus Turkish Airlines
Kıbrıs Türk Hava Yolları
IATA
YKICAO
KYVCallsign
AIRKIBRISFounded 1974 Commenced operations 1975 Ceased operations 21 June 2010 Hubs Ercan International Airport Fleet size 7 Destinations 18 Headquarters Nicosia, Cyprus Key people Bilal EKŞİ Website www.kthy.net 
Cyprus Turkish Airlines Limited (Turkish: Kıbrıs Türk Hava Yolları Ltd. Şti. (KTHY)) was a Turkish Cypriot airline that was the flag carrier for the Turkish-occupied northern part of Cyprus, and was based in the Turkish sector of Nicosia.[1] Cyprus Turkish Airlines was also the main airline that flew passengers to the Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus until its collapse in June 2010.
Scheduled flights were operated from Turkey-only recognised Ercan Airport, Northern Cyprus to several cities in Turkey, the United Kingdom and Western / Northern Europe.
KTHY had its main base at Ercan (Tymbou) Airport situated near Nicosia.[2]
The airline was de jure registered as a Turkish company in Istanbul.[3] Day-to-day operations were run from Ercan. All services to Europe had to make a stop at a city in mainland Turkey.
Contents
History
Cyprus Turkish Airlines was established on 4 December 1974 in Nicosia with shares equally divided between THY and the Cash Development of the Consolidated Fund of the Assembly of the Turkish Cypriot Community (Konsolide Fonu Inkisaf Sandigi). The first scheduled flight was operated on the 3 February 1975.
In 2005 the Turkish government sold its shareholding to Ada Havayollari.[4]
To avoid bankruptcy due to a $100 million debt, the management had decided to sell the company in June 2010. After the end of the bidding period, the Turkish carrier Atlasjet was the only bidder. [5]
On 21 June 2010, the airline announced via their website that they had ceased all operations until further notice and eight days later, on 29 June 2010 it was announced that the airline had gone out of business.
Timeline
Year Events 1975 The first scheduled flight was operated on 3 February 1975 1976 Aircraft of types included DC-9, Boeing 727-200 and Boeing 707(720) first on a lease basis 1977 KTHY is registered as a Turkish company in Istanbul, Turkey [6] 1981 Launch of scheduled flights to London (UK) 1990 2 Boeing 727-200 purchased 1991 Ground operations staff and cockpit / cabin crew employed 1993 Third Boeing 727-200 purchased 1995 First Airbus A310-200 purchased 1996 Fourth Boeing 727-200 purchased 1999 Second Airbus A310-200 purchased 2000 2 Boeing 737-800's were long term leased 2001 Third Boeing 737-800 is long termed leased 2002 All 4 Boeing 727-200's, upon completion of technical flight hours, grounded and sold 2004 3 Airbus A321-200's were long terms leased.[7] 2004 Caretta in-flight magazine re-introduced 2006 ISO 9001-2000 Quality Control System certificate obtained in April 2006 DCS system introduced and used for the first time at Ercan International Airport 2006 Ground services in airports of Turkey passed on to "HAVAŞ" in December 2007 "Cyprus Airport Services" were formed after KTHY's partnership with "HAVAŞ" 2007 Scheduled flights to Birmingham (UK) commenced on 21 May 2008 Fourth Boeing 737-800 purchased, to be delivered in February 2009 2008 First the time in the history of KTHY, employment of male cabin staff 2008 Protocol signed with DETUR for flights to Sweden, Norway and Finland 2009 First flight to Scandinavia scheduled for 7 February 2009 to Helsinki 2009 Charter flights planned to operate to Italy, Romania, Slovenia and Hungary 2009 Delivery of a Airbus A320-200 2009 Fourth Boeing 737-800 is delivered 2010 Operations are ceased on 21 June 2010 Declared Bankruptcy on 19th September Destinations
Main article: Cyprus Turkish Airlines destinationsFleet
A Cyprus Turkish Airlines Airbus A321, named "Iskele", taking off from Manchester Airport, England. (2009)
The Cyprus Turkish Airlines fleet consisted of the following aircraft (at 13 March 2010):[8]
Cyprus Turkish Airlines Fleet Aircraft Total Passengers Notes Airbus A320-232 1 180 Operated by Turkuaz Airlines Airbus A321-211 2 209 1 operated by AtlasJet Boeing 737-800 4 177 Total 7 - Most of the KTHY fleet spent the night at Ercan, however sometimes some of the planes spent the night at a Turkish Airport.
List of the registrations and names Airbus A321-211 - TC-KTD İskele
Boeing 737-800 The Cyprus Observer revealed that KTHY (Cyprus Turkish Airlines) planned to extend their fleet to 12 aircraft which would have been in service by 2012 and all would have worn the airlines updated livery.
The Cyprus Turkish Airlines average fleet age was 6.5 years (at 14 March 2010).[9]
Former Fleet
- 4 Boeing 727-200
- 1 Boeing 737-200
- 1 Airbus A300B4 (leased for 1 month in summer 1996 from Holiday Air) [10]
- 1 Airbus A310-200
- 1 Airbus A310-300
- 1 Airbus A320-231
- 2 Airbus A321-211
- 1 McDonnell Douglas MD-81
- 1 McDonnell Douglas MD-82
- 2 McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30 (third aircraft was never taken up by the airline)
Services
Travel Classes
KTHY Only offered 2 classes:
- Economy.
This class was offered on all of the new aircraft. Full meal or snack service was provided in Economy Class free of charge. However in-flight entertainment programmes were not offered.
- Economy Plus (Business class).
This class had been newly introduced by KTHY (Cyprus Turkish Airlines) after years of cancelling their Business and First class services caused by the grounding of Airbus A310 and Boeing 727 aircraft. This class service would go active once the 2 new aircraft had been delivered to KTHY. On 1 June, KTHY got their new aircraft and still in waiting for the second from Airbus. However having KTHY have an Airbus for sale will mean they are one Airbus down. According to KTHY, "Economy Plus" will offer improved seating and in-flight entertainment would be available.
Cabin Crew
Since the formation of KTHY (Cyprus Turkish Airlines), all flight attendants had been female. It was announced on the website by KTHY that, from the beginning of July 2008 at the start of the summer schedule season, male flight attendants would join as cabin crew members.
Express Check In
The airline introduced an Express Check-in in early 2008 at the KTHY base airport of Ercan (Northern Cyprus). Passengers with only hand baggage could make use of this service. There were separate express check-in counters for passengers with only hand baggage and those without any baggage.
Frequent Flyer Programme
The airline had a "Special Passenger Programme for Frequent Flyers..." for those who flew with KTHY frequently. The benefits of this programme were a priority seat reservations, no waiting at check-in, extra baggage allowance and the ability to gain points towards free travel.[11]
Caretta Magazine
The in-flight magazine was produced once a month for KTHY, and was normally placed in the seat pocket. Caretta normally gave information about the culture of Northern Cyprus and the places you could visit. Also featured was information about upcoming events in Northern Cyprus etc. The magazine was available on their website.
Incidents and Accidents
- On 30 March 1998, Mehmet Ertürk hijaked a KTHY plane. He was carrying a lighter in the form of a hand granade. The plane was on its way from Ercan to Ankara, the plane landed safely in Ankara and the hijacker was arrested.
Industrial Action
- The staff of CTA staged a 6 hour wildcat strike on 7 April 2010 starting at 6am, and grounding all planes. Travellers to and from the TRNC were severely inconvenience and distressed. Communication from the airline to travellers about the delays was poor, and the strike action is expected to seriously dent the airlines already beleaguered reputation.[citation needed]
External links
References
- ^ "Contacts." Cyprus Turkish Airlines. Retrieved on 6 November 2009.
- ^ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International: p. 101. 2007-04-03.
- ^ KTHY tickets list Head Office as "Istanbul- Turkey" Because of illegality issues, all planes fly the Turkish flag and have "TC" Turkey codes
- ^ "Directory: World Airlines Part 2 (C-L)". Flight International: 31–80. 2009-04-07.
- ^ http://www.cyprus-mail.com/cyprus/cyprus-turkish-airlines-deal-was-done-bids-even-opened/20100611
- ^ http://www.kthy.net/kthyen/html/about_kthy.htm
- ^ KTHY
- ^ Cyprus Turkish Airlines Fleet
- ^ Cyprus Turkish Airlines Fleet Age
- ^ Cyprus Turkish Airlines current and historic Fleet
- ^ [1]
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