Press release

50 years of Turkish Airlines in the capital region
Airline celebrates its anniversary at BER with retro-style aircraft 
 

50 years ago today, on 28 September 1973, the first Turkish Airlines aircraft landed at what was then Berlin-Schönefeld Airport. This marked the start of the non-stop connection between Istanbul and Berlin, which continues to this day. To mark the anniversary, Turkish Airlines is visiting BER today with an Airbus A 330-203 in a historic design. In 2022, Turkish Airlines was one of the five largest airlines at Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport with 735,000 passengers.

Zekeriya Kurucam, General Manager Turkish Airlines Berlin: “We are delighted to be operating today’s anniversary flight with a special, retro-style Airbus A330 to celebrate this significant event. The tremendous support of our local business partners and local travel agents over the last five decades, as well as the trust of our passengers, are the essence of our 50 years of success. We would like to thank the management at Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH for the successful partnership.

Aletta von Massenbach, Chief Executive Officer Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH: “Turkish Airlines’ 50 years in Berlin is an impressive journey that demonstrates the strong connection between the capital region and Istanbul. For tourism, but also for economic cooperation between the two cities. The airline has been an important partner for us from the first flight to Berlin-Schönefeld to the connections from Tegel and its presence at the current airport in the capital region BER. We look forward to continued successful years of cooperation with Turkish Airlines at BER.”

Turkish Airlines connects the Berlin metropolitan region with Istanbul up to six times a day and offers direct flights from there to over 120 countries. In addition, the airline has seasonal flights to destinations such as Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Bodrum, Gaziantep, Izmir, Ordu-Giresun, Samsun and Trabzon. 

Turkish Airlines is also an important cargo partner at the airport: the airline is one of the largest cargo handling service providers at BER with a market share of 15 percent. The airline impressively demonstrated its strength in the field of air cargo at the beginning of the year as part of earthquake relief efforts. The airline transported around 150 tonnes of cargo from Berlin to the earthquake-affected area in the first days and weeks after the earthquake in southeast Turkey in February 2023.

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