What are the main responsibilities of your organisation?
As the authority responsible for the organisation, supervision and regulation of civil aviation in Turkey, the DGCA oversees airline operations, ground services, aircraft maintenance, flight training organisations, air taxi, general aviation and balloon operations in accordance with international regulations and standards.
The organisation is also responsible for legal matters within the civil aviation sector and oversees regulatory affairs, registrations, certification and licensing procedures.
In order to meet the needs and expectations of the rapidly developing civil aviation sector, the DGCA was reorganised in November 2005 when it became a public entity with a special budget affiliated with the Ministry of Transport.
In addition to regulating safety and security, the DGCA also works with international civil aviation organisations in order to develop strategies for sustainable growth in the sector.
Why is aviation an important sector for Turkey?
Globalisation and the volume of world trade have rapidly increased in recent years, making the transport sector one of the most important industries in the world today.
The aviation sector plays a major role in the development of countries economies, and their ability to grow on a global scale.
The phrase of the great Turkish leader Mustafa Atatürk: ‘The future is in the sky’ is a reminder to us of the importance of aviation in our future.
Within this framework, aviation was transformed into a state policy by the Regional Aviation Policy, which came into force in 2003. This was a major milestone in Turkish civil aviation and ushered in a dramatic period of transformation in the sector. This also meant rapid growth for the aviation sector – something that has surprised the world.
Steps to liberalise the sector have had a major impact on growth. Liberalisation meant a more competitive environment, which saw passenger and aircraft traffic increase rapidly – now flying is no longer the privilege of the few, it is a transport mode that is available to everyone.
Turkey has not only rapidly increased its passenger traffic, but has also gained recognition as a country where international standards and regulations are fully implemented.
According to future estimates, Turkey’s civil aviation industry will continue to grow strongly.
What changes have taken place in the Turkish airline market in the past five years?
Before the civil aviation sector opened to private enterprise in 2002, only Turkish Airlines carried scheduled domestic flights from two centres to 25 points. Today, seven airline companies carry passengers to a total of 46 domestic points.
In addition, using previously under-utilised airports has opened up 21 new destinations. Infrastructure works have also been completed and military airfields have been transformed to handle civilian traffic.
Since 2002, the number of domestic passengers has increased six-fold, from 8.5 million to 54 million at the end of 2010. In 2002, Turkey was connected to 60 international points, today Turkish carriers operate to over 157 destinations all over the world.
Revising bilateral agreements and signing new agreements has also allowed us to add 97 new destinations in our flight network. In 2002 we had bilateral agreements with 81 countries; by the end of 2010 this had risen to 111.
In 2002 the number of international passengers was 25 million; by the end of 2010 this number had reached 50 million passengers. The total number of passengers in 2010 exceeded 104 million.
In 2002, our civil aviation sector owned 110 widebody aircraft; today this number has reached 350 airplanes – this means the number of aircraft owned by Turkish companies has more than trebled in eight years. Our fleet is expected to reach 750 airplanes within 10 years.
Using a Build Operate Transfer (BOT) model, six airport terminal buildings, equipped with the latest technology, have been built with no burden to the national budget. These projects have opened up capacity to an additional 85 million passengers, in addition to creating 10,000 jobs during construction, and contributing around $1 billion to subsidiary industries.
2010 was clearly a successful year for us, and Turkey has subsequently started to hold high-level positions in the decision making mechanisms of international organisations such as Eurocontrol.
What has the rise of low-cost Turkish airlines meant for the country?
Today there are three air cargo operators and 16 passenger airline companies in Turkey. In addition, Turkish Airlines, Onur Airlines, Pegasus Airlines, Atlasjet, SunExpress, Borajet and Sky Airlines have been authorised to operate scheduled flights domestically and abroad.
With liberalisation came the rise of the low-cost carriers, which brought many new opportunities for aviation operators and Turkish passengers. In 2002, 14 airlines turned over $2.2 billion; today 16 carriers generate over
$12 billion.
Why is commercial aviation important for the growth of tourism in Turkey?
Civil aviation and tourism are interconnected and cannot be considered without the other. The more people travel, the more demand there will be for aviation. The most important thing for growth in the tourism sector is good air access.
Liberalisation had a major impact on the development of tourism activities in Turkey, as being able to travel cheaply and having an extensive flight network means that it is easy to reach almost any point in the country.
Airports can also give visitors a first impression of the country and improvements at our gateways have been a major contribution to the country’s image.
How does DGCA cooperate with the other Turkish tourism authorities?
We have established numerous projects in order to maintain dialogue with tourism authorities and to support future tourism and economic growth.
Two important projects that we have been working on are the ‘Economic Airports’ project, which is focused on incentivising low-cost airline activity, and the ‘A Heliport for Every District’ project that will boost tourism potential for specific cities.
In addition, two important projects, directly targeting tourism development are the Open Sky project and Regional Flights project.
The Open Sky project provides foreign airlines with unlimited flight access to Samsun Çarşamba, Nevşehir–Kapadokya and Gaziantep airports to countries with bilateral agreements. It is hoped this will result in those airports operating at higher capacity, while regions with a strong tourism offering will develop and provide gains for the local economy.
I must also mention the support that we give to hot-air balloon tourism in Cappadocia. In 2003, three hot-air balloon operators provided service in the region, today there are 16 operators with 106 hot-air balloons.
What is the outlook for Turkey’s smaller regional airports?
There are some challenges for the regional airports, as some gateways were only designed to handle domestic flights or small passenger numbers. Some terminals are unable to manage growing numbers of airplanes and passenger traffic efficiently. However, we are carrying out works to ensure that the old terminal buildings are expanded to meet capacity.
Our airport operators have also been awarded tenders in various other countries and have started to operate airport terminal construction and operation works on a global scale across three continents. In addition, the companies providing ground services at airports have started to offer services at airports abroad, which is an important sign of service quality.
