Istanbul Sabiha Gökçens’ Paving the Way for Recovery
- Log in to post comments
The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc globally and the impact has been felt by everyone and every industry economically. Malaysia Airports’ wholly-owned Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (IATA code: SAW) was no exception from the impact of the pandemic.
From welcoming about 36 million passengers in 2019, SAW only managed to host approximately 17 million passengers in 2020 after the onset of the pandemic. However, the normalisation process together with all sort of safety measures and vaccine rollouts led some of the airlines to resume their operations. Some of the airlines include Qatar Airways, Pobeda, Air Arabia, Air Arabia Maroc, Flynas, Flydubai, Jazeera Airways, Buta Airways, Nile Air and Salam Airways.
Meanwhile, SAW’s base carriers Anadolujet and Pegasus Airlines expanded their services by launching new international destinations and increasing existing route frequencies. Overall, such developments strengthen SAW’s connectivity with 80 international destinations in 39 different countries. Additionally, SAW has also welcomed its first new foreign airline of the year which was FlyArystan, whose inaugural flight was on March 28, from the city of Turkistan, Kazakhstan.
AnadoluJet is Spreading its Wings Again
In March 2021, AnadoluJet has stretched its wings as it increased international flight frequencies from SAW and launched new destinations in line with their vision to become the leading airline in connectivity.
The sub-brand of Turkish Airlines, AnadoluJet has started flying to Orumiyeh, Iran twice every week on March 11. Just eight days later on March 1, the airline re-started flights from SAW to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
AnadoluJet has also added 4 new international routes increasing its total international destinations to 24. Added on the March 28, the airline now serves Hamburg (IATA code: HAM) with and Zurich (IATA code: ZRH), Basel (IATA code: BSL) and Sarajevo (IATA code: SJJ). AnadoluJet is looking to launch additional routes in early May for the upcoming summer season.
A Lot More of Pegasus
Pegasus Airlines is also expanding its international network, launching its new route to Odessa, Ukraine on March 28. The airline has also announced the launching of the Batumi, Georgia route which is expected to start on May 7.
The airlines’ summer schedule is also expected to be extensive since the airline is planning to increase both domestic and international operations for the season.
Are you ready to fly again?
It's exciting to fly again, with airport operators such as Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport and Malaysia Airports, who is putting an extra effort to ensure the safety and security of the airport and continuously aim to champion connectivity to connect passengers globally. We will soon take off to the skies and fly freely and quench the travel thirst we have encountered for the past year!
