ISTANBUL

Turkey's national flag-carrier Turkish Airlines will offer lower ticket prices this year, the chairman of the company's board Hamdi Topcu said on Tuesday.

Topcu explained that fuel expenses have dropped to 34 percent of total costs from 38 percent because of the energy price drop, speaking in an interview with The Anadolu Agency. The price of a barrel of oil has gone from $115 per barrel in June 2014 to about $50 per barrel in January 2014.

Topcu said that the airline had already passed on a partial discount in the past two months, but that flying could get even cheaper this year, as will become clear to passengers during the summer season.

"We think we may be able to offer even cheaper flying if the oil price continues to decline," Topcu said.

There have been bad weather cancellations in the past year, Topcu said, but the airline had managed them for the passengers involved. A total of 30 or 40 flights were cancelled in 2014.

 He also stressed that cancelled or delayed flights due to bad weather and it caused to stop on travel plans for many people across the country.

By the end of 2014, Turkish Airlines carried 56 million passengers, Topcu said, and now we are starting to make long-term planning for 2023. Turkish Airlines’ net income at the end of the 2014 was $17.5 billion, and the company is now Turkey’s second largest company in terms of income.

The company continues to aim to become one of the world’s leading five-star airlines, by increasing its service quality and maintaining a healthy financial structure focused on profitable growth, Topcu said.

Customers voted Turkish Airlines as Europe’s Best Airline each year from 2011 to 2014.

- AA cooperates with Turkish Airlines

Topcu discussed the ongoing cooperation between AA and Turkish Airlines. AA distributes world news through the carrier’s in-flight entertainment system. 

“This cooperation is really important. Turkey’s global brand, Turkish Airlines, and Turkey's high-powered Anadolu Agency have a significant deal. Customers demand real-time communication and information; they expect the quality of information delivery to match that of the pilot," Topcu explained. 

Around 150 major news articles from AA are transferred to Turkish Airlines on a long flight, and this number is to increase.

Around 41.4 million passengers traveled with Turkish Airlines between January and September 2014, a 14 percent increase from the same period last year, according to the carrier.

The company traveled to 260 destinations as of September 2014, an increase from 239 in September 2013. The airline’s number of international destinations has risen to 217 from 197.

The Anadolu Agency is already a well-established global news agency which offers newswires in eight languages.

www.aa.com.tr/en