The Executive Secretary of the National Institute for Tourism Promotion of Argentina (INPROTUR), Ricardo Sosa, met with the new General Manager for South America of Turkish Airlines, Adem Ekmekci, to analyse the actions to be taken to continue positioning Argentina in the Turkish market and in other countries where tourist traffic originates.
During the meeting, Ekmekci said that the airline was making all internal operational arrangements so that in the second half of 2023 there would be daily flights between Istanbul and Buenos Aires, via Sao Paulo.
Also present at the meeting were the Secretary of Institutional Relations of the Argentine Chamber of Tourism, Horacio Reppucci, and the airline’s Commercial Director for Argentina, Maximiliano Caprarulo.
Currently, Argentina is served by 4 weekly flights from Turkey. The daily flights will result in a greater offer of seats for the Turkish market, but also for different countries from which the company generates a movement of travellers.
They also agreed on the decision to position Buenos Aires as the tourist reference in South America, with positioning actions to be carried out soon.
Two new destinations in South America in 2023
The last destination inaugurated in South America had been Bogota (BOG), Colombia, in May 2016 in triangulation with Panama City (PTY) with three weekly flights by Airbus A330-200.
Bogota is currently operated with one daily flight by Boeing 777-300ER. Turkish also operates a daily flight to Caracas (CCS), Venezuela, by Boeing 787-9; and São Paulo/Guarulhos (GRU) in Brazil with eleven weekly flights by Airbus A350-900.
According to a report issued last month by the company, in the coming months a second destination in Brazil should be added with Rio de Janeiro (GIG), but also a direct link with Santiago in Chile.
South America, along with Central America and the Caribbean, is the region with the lowest passenger movement in Turkey’s network of destinations, accounting for 1% of total passengers, with 586,969 passengers. However, the significant tourist potential is increasing the interest of airlines in developing connectivity, and this is the second announcement in a few days, after Emirates, of an increase or resumption of frequencies between Latin America and the Middle East.
Source: INPROTUR
