TokyoTomo Travel Guide

During the media luncheon meeting held on January 28, Tuba Toptan Yavuz, Director for Japan, Turkish Airlines, demonstrated his enthusiasm to serve Narita at least on a daily basis starting within fiscal year 2010, adding that the airline is also eager to operate to and from Tokyo’s Haneda if the aviation talks are successfully concluded between Japan and Turkey. He expects that the flight leaving Haneda in the late evening and arriving in Istanbul in the following morning would definitely attract business traffic from Japan. The airline, however, places its first priority on the realization of daily flight operations from Narita, said Director Yavuz. Aiming for its daily flight schedule in the near future, Turkish Airlines will strive to expand its sales, launching a new sales campaign and addressing new pricing strategies.

The new sales campaign titled “One Night Istanbul” offers Turkish Airlines passengers one night free accommodation in Istanbul when transiting to Europe, Central Asia, Africa, Middle East and elsewhere from Japan. The campaign aims to encourage customers to fly Turkish Airlines via Istanbul, thereby they can experience the passenger-friendly connectivity, see the city’s sites at first hand and eventually become the frequent fliers. Yavuz said, “The late evening arrival in Istanbul from Tokyo Narita has been so far an issue as it involves an overnight in Istanbul, but, taking advantage of the late arrival, Turkish Airlines can provide its customers an opportunity to see the allure that Istanbul offers.” The tourist spots in the evening and restaurants will be introduced on the Turkish Airline’s website and, in addition, in travel information brochures to be issued. Hotels for transit passengers on the “One Night Istanbul” program will be, among others, Holiday Inn Istanbul City and Radisson SAS Airport. With a valid boarding pass, transit passengers can ask for hotel rooms at the airline’s airport counter. Transit passengers continuing by international flights within 24 hours need not collect their checked luggage at Istanbul. The “One Night Istanbul” campaign program can be included also in a package tour besides FIT, according to Turkish Airlines.

The airline’s pricing strategy includes a special fare sold at a value of 77,000 yen in connection with Turkish Airline’s 77th anniversary of its foundation. The first offer is valid from April 1 to 23 and, after May 1, the offer will be continued as the “Lucky Day” sale date campaign with a specified date in each month for the same price. A date of sales will be announced on the airline’s website.

Turkish Airlines Endeavors to Attract Business Traffic from Japan, Extolling Its Passenger-Friendly Connectivity

Turkish Airlines is scheduled to increase its weekly frequency to six on its Narita/Istanbul route and four on its Osaka’s Kansai/Istanbul route from March 28 respectively. The overall seat capacity offer on the airline’s Japan route will be increased by 50% to 2,956 seats per week from 1,898 seats offered in the previous year. From Japan, the airline aims to attract business traffic to the Middle East, Africa and Russia with its excellent onward connections via Istanbul airport. In order for Turkish Airlines to secure business traffic to these areas from Japan, the daily flight operations remain the first priority among others. Consequently, the airline strives for the earliest possible realization of the daily operations from Narita. Currently, Osaka’s Kansai enjoys vibrant traffic demand beyond Istanbul, whilst Narita has traffic demand to Istanbul and other destinations within Turkey as a final destination. Also in the future, Turkish Airlines will make the best use of its two Japanese routes, capitalizing on the respective route characteristics. The airline, on top of it, will build an image of premium service on the Narita/Istanbul route featuring its First class product and service recently introduced.

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.