Istanbul Air Show Gathers Aviation Giants
The Istanbul Air Show Civil Aviation and Airports Fair and Aviation Industry Supply Chain Platform, organized by Mint Fuarcılık, which has been held biennially since 1996, took place this year at the Atatürk Airport Apron on 6-9 October 2016. The İstanbul Air Show, known as the greatest civil aviation fair of the region, opened its doors to visitors for the 11th time at the Atatürk Airport General Aviation Apron. The Minister of Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communication, Ahmet Arslan, cut the opening ribbon at the event.
Flying to Ankara from Istanbul with the Dornier type aircraft painted in the British Airways colors and purchased for the production of the domestic aircraft to be manufactured with the name “TRJet”, Mr. Arslan reminded in his opening remark that the event has been held since 1996 and underlined the importance of making a speech at the 21st anniversary of such an important event in the aviation sector.
Mr. Arslan stated that they were ready to provide all types of support for the development of the aviation industry and added, “We assure that we will be doing everything to pave the way for the investments”. Arslan also expressed that they gathered for the economic and socio-cultural union of the countries rather than the demonstration of the products of the aviation sector and said, “The foundation of economic cooperation is essential for our countries and the collaboration that is critical for the development of our foreign trade activities lies in this sector”.
Minister Mr. Ahmet Arslan: “Our flight network expanded by three-fold”
Arslan said, “The aviation sector is one of the biggest driving forces of our country. An investment of 100 units in the aviation industry enables the production of an added value of 300 units. Therefore, it contributes significantly to other branches of the industry. It also implies prestige and reliability in industrial production”. Saying “Turkey pursued a close cooperation in civil aviation with the countries in its region”, Minister Arslan added, “The size of our flight network expanded over three times. Today, the number of countries we collaborate with increased to 166 from 81. Our international flights increased to 282 in 115 countries. Moreover, the number of aircrafts went up to 528 from 162. The support of our President and Prime Minister within the policy of “Airlines will be the line of the nation” is behind these positive developments”.
Mr. Arslan: “The number of passengers of Turkish Civil Aviation climbed to the 8th rank in the world and the 3rd rank in Europe”
Speaking on the significant activities they accomplished in the last 13 years concerning civil aviation and transportation infrastructure, Arslan continued, “As you may also observe, civil aviation in our country has reached a level where it could act as an example in respect to the regional and world civil aviation. With the achievement of the competitive atmosphere since 2003, we reached the foresights of the international authorities for 2015 within 2-3 years in 2005. Turkish Civil Aviation has demonstrated a performance which quite exceeds the world growth average. Justifiably, we became the focus of attention in the world and in our region”.
Mr. Arslan expressed that with the focus on passengers during the adoption of decisions, the domestic line passenger traffic grew by two digits and thus the airlines indeed became the preferred travelling option for the nation. Stating that presently the number of passengers of Turkish civil aviation climbed to the 8th rank in the world and the 3rd rank in Europe, Mr. Arslan stated that during this period in which severe economic crisis emerged, the aviation sector in the country, airports – terminal facilities and management, maintenance – repair – renewal services, design – production and training have displayed improvement by significant levels.
Minister Arslan: “We Prepared a Draft Law for the Establishment of Turkey’s Space Agency”
Noting that Turkey indigenously manufactured the Unmanned Air Vehicle “Anka” and Atak helicopter through national resources, Mr. Arslan pointed out that the certificate for the training aircraft “Hürkuş” has also been received just a short while ago.
Mentioning the importance of manufacturing an unmanned air vehicle and equipping it with arms, Mr. Arslan said that their activities in the space arena continued in addition to their activities in aviation. Arslan said, “While achieving all these, we realized the need of a space agency in our country and prepared the draft law on the establishment of Turkey’s Space Agency to be submitted to the Grand National Assembly. Our aim is to enter into the league of the few countries of the world in the aviation and space industry.” The companies active in a wide spectrum composed of civil, commercial and military areas demonstrated their products and capabilities to the participants at the event where 162 companies from 38 countries attended.
Within the scope of the “Regional Passenger Aircraft” program, which is one of Turkey’s most important agendas, the TRJet 328 series was displayed at the Istanbul Air Show for the first time. “Hürkuş” displaying its capabilities through a flight demonstration at the previous event was exhibited statically at a special area this year. Receiving the required certificates from EASA and Directorate General for Civil Aviation in July and becoming flight-ready,hts, “Hürkuş” drew great attention of the official delegations. Business jets, commercial passenger aircrafts and commercial helicopters of various classes were introduced at the event which was open to visitors for three days.
