Turkish Airlines is the fourth largest carrier in the world in point of destinations served and the first in point of number of Countries it flies to. Its fleet grew like no other in the world during the last decade, to the point that its historic hub at Istanbul Ataturk airport was no more capable to welcome all traffic appropriately. In 2019, a new airport opened to the north of Istanbul and all flights have been transferred there: when completed with its six runways and two terminals, it will be the largest in the world in point of traffic capacity, around 200mln passengers per year. TK has stakes in airlines such as AnadoluJet, Air Albania and SunExpress. Its safety record is far from satisfying, with three major accidents in the last six years and a fatal one in 2009, when a B737-800 crashed while approaching Amsterdam Schiphol airport, causing the death of 9 people onboard (including three pilots) while 86 more were injured and hospitalized. It is one of the few airlines in the world to have a 2+3+2 cross-section in Business on its B777-300ER, where most of airlines feature 1+2+1 (Photo Wikimedia Commons / Adam Moreira)
- - 5 STARS: Awarded to airlines achieving a very high, overall quality performance. It recognizes high standards of onboard product together with consistent and excellent standards of staff service across airport and cabin environments
- - 4 STARS: Awarded to airlines that deliver a good overall quality performance and provide good product standards across different travel cabins
- - 3 STARS: Awarded to airlines delivering a fair quality performance equating to the industry 'average' of acceptable product and service standards
- - 2 STARS: Shows airlines delivering a lower total quality performance, in some instances below the industry average across many rating categories
- - 1 STAR: Represents a poor quality of product delivered across the assessment sectors