Turkish flight school Ayjet is to begin operating domestic flights using Bombardier Q400s, formerly operated by SAS Group.
Ayjet general manager Aydin Uslu says two aircraft are planned for delivery in August and that pilots have just finished training in Canada. It marks a fresh development in the market as Turkish airlines are almost exclusively all-jet operators – MNG Airlines has Fokker F27s freighters.
Uslu says: "We still are discussing with other airlines in Turkey for wet-leased operations. There is a huge demand in Turkey for operations of turboprop aircraft to low demand capacity airports.
"Low cost turboprop aircraft can begin a new era in the Turkish domestic market. The market was liberalised in 2003 and rose from 8 million to 32 million passengers in four years. There are three main hubs in Turkey for domestic operation, but this will increase with turboprop aircraft,” he says.
The carrier plans to double the size of its operation to four aircraft in the first year.
Ayjet was founded as a flight school three years ago and has trained more than 100 pilots.
Source: flightglobal.com's sister premium news site Air Transport Intelligence news
Source: Flight International
