Mamma li Turchi... Turkish Airlines announces bid to join a European 'big': what they're aiming for from Istanbul

For years Turkish Airlines has been the 'ant' of the skies. From its hub at Istanbul's old 'Ataturk' airport, it has built a web of connections to 'thin', 'subtle', or secondary markets as you like (e.g. Catania, Bari, Naples, Bologna, Turin just to name a few Italian examples) in Europe, North-Central Africa, and the Middle East, transforming the airport from a point-to-point into one of the continent's major hubs thanks to a widespread collection of 'feeding' traffic.

The real bulk of this work was felt when Turkish announced that it was the non-African airline with the most destinations in Africa and, then, when it Became the airline to serve the most countries in the world (more than 130).

With the opening of Istanbul's new airport in 2018. the possibilities for growth have increased by leaps and bounds. And, past the 'ant' strategy, Turkish has started to take bigger and bigger steps, both in terms of fleet and network: in December 2023 placed an order with Airbus for 150 Airbus A321 neo with option for 100 more, 60 Airbus A350-900 plus 20 options and 15 Airbus A350-1000, while an order with Boeing has been under discussion for several months and could be finalized by the end of 2025.

Last year it also began flying to Australia over Melbourne and Sydney (and joining, thus, the elite of truly 'global' carriers, that is, flying to all six inhabited continents), for now with stopovers in Singapore or Kuala Lumpur, but heralding non-stop connections to the land of kangaroos, with a move that would make Qantas' much-vaunted 'Project Sunrise' outdated.

The stated goal of the '2033 Strategy' is to have a fleet of more than 800 aircraft within the next eight years (Today they are just under half).

Now, in a move unprecedented in its history, it has announced plans to acquire a 26% stake in Spanish carrier Air Europa, shelling out an amount around 275 million euros, with an offer to be formalized soon.

Joining Air Europa would allow Turkish to boost its presence in Latin America, the continent (Oceania aside) where it serves from Istanbul 'only' eight destinations: Cancun, Mexico City, Havana, Panama, Caracas, Bogota, São Paulo, Buenos Aires. Air Europa, which has a fleet of 56 airplanes and is part of Skyteam (while Turkish is in Star Alliance) boasts instead a network of 20 cities in Central and South America connected to its Madrid hub.

Turkish's announcement came just after two major European groups had expressly declined to enter Air Europa's capital, which has been 'on the market' for years for the purpose of strengthening its financial position. Last August 5, the Reuters news agency reported that the Lufthansa Group had officially broken off all discussions with Europa. And so had Air France/KLM in the same hours.

Both European groups are 'veterans' of recent acquisitions that are keeping them busy on the operational and financial front: In fact, Lufthansa took Air Baltic's 10% and, more importantly (as we all know) ITA Airways' 41% (with the intention of rising to 90% of capital), while Air France/KLM entered the capital of Scandinavian Airlines just a few months ago., with a quota of 20% (but with the intention of rising to 60%).

Should Air Europa 'fall' into Turkish hands, just six companies with major international networks not part of large groups would remain in the Old Continent (IAG, LH Group and AF/KL) or linked to major carriers: Tap Air Portugal, Virgin Atlantic, Finnair, Lot Polish, Condor, and Aegean.