Turkish Airlines raising the number of its international flights

Turkish Airlines, the national airline of Turkey, is increasing the number of its international flights as a part of its expansion plan.

The airline said in a statement that it would increase the number of flights departing from Istanbul, the capital of Turkey, to a number of international destinations, including Beijing and Shanghai (China), Beirut (Lebanon), Tunis (Tunisia), Skopje (Macedonia), and Sanaa (Yemen). 
Here is the new schedule of the flights to Beirut, Skopje, Tunis, and Sanaa: 

The number of flights to Sanaa was increased to 4 times a week from 3 times a week on June 4, 2009.
The number of flights to Tunis will be raised to 7 times a week from 5 flights a week from June 23, 2009.
The number of flights to Skopje is going up to 7 times a week from 5 times a week on June 8, 2009.
The frequency of the Beirut flights is jumping to 2 flights a day from 10 flights week from June 9, 2009.
 
In the statement, Turkish Airlines said the carrier’s current Istanbul-Beijing-Shanghai-Istanbul direct flight would be operated as 10 separate non-stop flights – that is, the Istanbul-Beijing-Istanbul flight on 5 days, and the Istanbul-Shanghai-Istanbul flight on 5 days from June 29, 2009.

According to the new schedule, Turkish Airlines said, flights to Beijing will operate on all days other than Tuesdays and Saturdays, and flights to Shanghai will operate on all days except Mondays and Thursdays.

In addition, Turkish Airlines, the fifth largest airline of Europe, has announced that it would start direct flights from Antalya in Turkey to 3 destinations in Europe – to Paris (France), Dusseldorf (Germany), and Stockholm (Sweden) in November 2009.

The website ftnnews.com quoted Sururi Çorabatir, president of the Mediterranean Tourist Hoteliers and Operators Union (AKTOB), as saying that “the importance of the high-class tourists in France, Germany and Sweden to Antalya is indisputable” and that “the new direct flights from these countries will create easy access to these markets.”

Antalya is aiming at 12 months of tourism with its big potential for golf tourism and conventions tourism, Çorabatir added.

The Gazipasa Airport in Alanya, Turkey, has already welcomed its first flight and a foreign company has launched direct flights from Kuwait to Antalya, Turkish Airlines said.

The Dubai-based Jupiter Airlines recently started flights from Mosul, the city in northern Iraqi, to Istanbul.