Turkish airline eyes base in Calcutta

Istanbul: Turkish Airlines, which flies from New Delhi and Mumbai, plans to start flights from Calcutta, Chennai and Hyderabad over the next two years.

“We are considering Calcutta as a hub in eastern India. But it depends on whether we are able to get the requisite permissions. We are in talks with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the civil aviation ministry,” said Temel Kotil, president and CEO of Turkish Airlines.

Plans are underway to start direct flights connecting Hyderabad and Istanbul next year. “GMR has asked us to start direct flights to Istanbul. We want to reach out to more cities in India and if they allow us we will definitely go. Right now, we are planning to reach out to five cities in India,” he said.

Hyderabad-based GMR Infrastructure is part of a consortium that won a contract to build a new terminal at the Istanbul international airport.
08/08/11 Karan Choudhury/The Telegraph

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Categories: airports aug 2011, Foreign Aug 2011