(ECO) CIVIL AVIATION DIRECTOR: TURKEY, ONLY EUROPEAN COUNTRY WITH INCREASING FLIGHT TRAFFIC AFTER GLOBAL CRISIS.

ISTANBUL, Sep 28, 2009 (TUR) -- Turkey's Civil Aviation Director Ali Ariduru said Monday Turkey was the only European country with increasing flight traffic in the face of the global financial crisis.

Taking the floor at the ICAN Air Service Negotiations Conference, organised by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Istanbul, Ariduru said Turkey exceeded the level of 55 million passengers per year, ten years ahead of 2015, the year projected for the said level by many international aviation organizations.

He said the number of passengers in domestic lines increased four folds since 2002 and reached 35 million and in international flights this number increased by nearly two folds and reached 42 million, thus bringing the total number of passengers to 77 million in 2008.

Ariduru said the total number of passengers as of August 2009 already reached 56.637 million noting that the turnover of civil aviation companies in Turkey exceeded USD 8 billion marking a nearly four folds growth since 2002.

"Number of passengers in Turkish civil aviation increased nearly by four folds and number of air planes rose by 100 pc, and Turkish people loved travelling with airlines," concluded Ariduru.

He said with 42 million passengers in international flights in 2008, Turkey climbed up to 13th place in the world air traffic, noting that they expected this upward trend to continue.

The ICAN conference which is hosted by Turkish Civil Aviation authority with the participation of 200 people from 56 countries will end on September 2.

The conference is organised to enable aviation negotiators from different states to conduct bilateral and regional meetings to discuss ways to improve air services and boost cooperation among aviation companies.

(OZG-MS)

(THROUGH ASIA PULSE)