The Flagship of Civil Aviation of Turkey Airlines “Türk Hava Yolları / Th) celebrates the 90th anniversary of the foundation.
Türk Hava Yolları was created on May 20, 1933.
The original name of the airline sounded as the State Aviation Administration (Devlet Hava Yolları İ̇letmesi ̇daresi), and the first General Director was Fes Everensev.
Airlines began activities with a budget of 180 thousand Turkish lire. The company’s staff was only 24 people, of which seven are pilots.
At that time, the airline fleet had five aircraft designed to transport 28 passengers: two King Bird aircraft, two Junkers F-13 aircraft and one ATH-9.
In 1936, the company’s fleet increased to 8 aircraft, which were designed to transport 64 passengers. The budget of the airline during this period increased to 1 million lire.
The State Aviation Administration in 1938 was renamed the Main Directorate of Civil Aviation (Devlet Hava Yolları Umum Müdürlüğü) and transferred to the Ministry of Transport. The number of aircraft airlines increased to 52, and it could already transport 845 passengers.
In 1943-1945, the airline significantly expanded the air fleet, laying the foundations of future success. By 1945, the airline already made flights in 19 cities.
The first regular international flight THY was made in 1947 along the route of Ankara – Istanbul – Athens. The time in flight was 2 hours 40 minutes.
Four years later – in 1951, Thy expanded the geography of flights – flights were organized to Lefkosha, Beirut and Cairo.
Airlines was renamed Türk Hava Yolları in 1953.
In 1956, Thy joined the International Air Transport Association (IATA), and in 1957, 6.5 percent of the shares of companies were acquired by the British Boac (British Overseas Airways Corporation).
In the 1960s, the airline has accumulated sufficient experience and implemented a successful strategy, increasing popularity in Europe.
On the 50th anniversary of the founding (in 1983), Thy Park has already counted 30 aircraft (for 4,037 passengers). By this time, the airline had already flighted to the airports of three continents. In the same year, the passenger flow of the airline amounted to 2.5 million, and the cargo transportation reached 30 thousand tons.
During the crisis of the early 2000s, Thy attracted new investments by increasing the fleet and a flight grid.
Currently, the company’s air park has 415 aircraft, Thy flew to 129 countries, making flights to 344 airports in the world.
By 2033, Thy plans to bring the number of aircraft to 800, and flight directions to 400.
Currently, the Thy team is a single family of 82 thousand specialists. By 2033, it is planned to bring the number of employees to 150 thousand
”The Thy brand continues to strive for leading positions in the field of world civil aviation. According to the results of 2023, the Fleet of the National Air carrier of Turkey will reach 435 liners. I am sure of the new successes of Thy,” said the head of the directors of THY Akhmet Bolat.