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Turkish Airlines (IATA code: TK) is an airline with the fourth largest flight network in the world, serving flights to more than 290 destinations across more than 116 countries. The airline — which in 2016 was named the Best Airline in Europe by Skytrax for the sixth consecutive time — has won many titles, including Best Airline in Southern Europe, Best Business Class Dining Lounge, and Best Business Class Onboard Catering. Meanwhile, its meals in Economy Class has ranked second in the 2017 World’s Best Economy Class Airline Catering category. The Turkish Airlines fleet consists of 338 aircraft in total. The smallest in the fleet is Boeing 737-700, which has a capacity of 124 seats, while the largest is Boeing 737-900ER, which carries 169 seats. Every seat is equipped with an onboard power source underneath the seat pan, which the passengers can use to charge their devices during flight. Connectivity is also available onboard by way of USB ports and Ethernet jacks. For more comfort in Economy Class, the airline equips every seat with an adjustable footrest and an extendable headrest. In front of their seats, screens have been set up to offer a wide range of entertainment via its Audio-Video-On-Demand (AVOD) service. The airline’s Business Class, however, presents even more perks. Turkish Airlines is currently the only major flight carrier that offers any Business Class passenger the opportunity to watch startup pitches onboard, thanks to its Invest on Board feature. By cooperating with eTohum, a Turkish startup accelerator, the platform allows passengers to assess two-minute pitches from several Turkish-based startup companies. This way, passengers get a real opportunity to invest in some of those potential companies. The company has made its mark in the industry by making a series of large-scale aircraft purchase. With it "Globally Yours" motto, Turkish Airlines offers the most comprehensive network of flights, allowing extended trips for its passengers. The airline is now taking base at the Istanbul Ataturk Airport.

The journey of Turkish Airlines began on 20 May 1933 when the State Airlines Administration — the airline’s previous name — was established under the Turkish Ministry of National Defense. The department employed only 24 personnels to operate its two King Birds, two Junkers F-13, and one ATH-9 aircraft. By 1938, the airline's fleet had grown to consist eight aircraft, and it became part of the Ministry of Transportation. From 1943 to 1945, the State Airlines Administration made more aircraft purchases, adding six D-Havilland Domini, five Junkers 52, 30 Douglas DC-3s and three C-47, making a total of 52 aircraft in the fleet. Then, in 1947, it had its first international flight, serving the Ankara-Istanbul-Athens route. It added more flights in 1951 to reach such new destinations as Nicosia, Beirut and Cairo. In 1953, the airline operated its first hajj flight. In the same year, the company also completed the establishment of the International Airport in Yesilkoy district, Istanbul. The airport was equipped with international-standard runways, a passenger terminal, a maintenance hangar and radio electronic equipment. State Airlines Administration changed its name to Turkish Airlines Inc. on 1 March 1956 and joined the International Air Transport Association (IATA). A year later, the airline began its partnership with British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), who provided technical support after acquiring a 6% share from the airline. In the same year, the company also joined SITA (Airlines Worldwide Telecommunications and Information Services) to develop its communication system. At that time, Turkish Airlines had had 28 more airplanes, including 19 DC-3, seven Heron passenger planes and two C-47 cargo planes. Five Viscount 794 turboprop aircrafts joined the fleet collection in 1958 that also marked the switch from the piston to the faster jet engines. With the additional aircraft, the airline opened more routes to Rome and Athens. In 1960, Turkish Airlines made an additional purchase of six new F-27 turboprop aircraft. The purchase resulted in the opening of the Ankara-Istanbul-Vienna-Frankfurt route. A year later in 1961, two Turkish pilots, Zihni Barin and Nurettin Gurun brought two F-27 from the US. Also in 1961, the designer Mesut Manioğlu won the competition held by the company to create the airline’s logo. The airline’s wild goose emblem has served as the company’s logo until now. From 1964 to 1965, the airline opened more routes to Brussels, Munich, Tel Aviv, Amsterdam, Belgrade and Tabriz. Two years later in 1967, it added three McDonnell Douglas DC-9 to its fleet and opened routes to Zurich, Budapest and Geneva. Turkish Airlines also used its first international jet flight to serve the Ankara-Istanbul-Brussels route. To upgrade its performance, Turkish Airlines made an agreement with Petrol Ofisi to supply the fuel. In 1968, the airline’s capital stock rose from TL 90 million to TL 200 million, and between 1969 and 1971, the company added seven DC-9 aircraft, three Viscount aircraft, seven F-27 aircraft, eight DC-9-30 aircraft, one DC-9-10 aircraft, and three B-707 aircraft. The opening of new destinations Cologne, Düsseldorf and Stuttgart followed. Turkish Airlines reached its first significant success in 1972, when its capital stock rose by 100% from TL 200 million to TL 400 million. Two additional DC-10 aircraft were purchased and Hannover and Hamburg were added as new destinations in the same year. In 1973, 40 years after its establishment, the number of Turkish Airlines staff was recorded at 4,437 personnel. To celebrate its 40th year, the airline bought five Fokker F28 aircraft and opened routes to Copenhagen, Berlin and Nuremberg. Turkish Airlines expanded its business by establishing Cyprus Turkish Airlines on 4 December 1975. In 1978, routes to Baghdad, Tehran, Dharan and Tripoli opened and the total passengers at that time reached 3 million. In 1980 – 1985, the airline expanded its business in such areas as services, capital stock and fleet size. It opened a route to Cairo, Egypt in 1980, and three years later, it had operated flights on three continents with its fleet of 30 aircraft. The same year in 1983, the airline launched its first in-flight magazine THY. Then, in 1984, Turkish Airlines became a state-owned enterprise worth TL 60 billion. As many as four Airbus A310s aircraft became part of Turkish Airlines’s fleet in 1985, allowing it to offer flights to the Far East. Its first Asia operation began in June 1986 with Singapore as the destination. The same year Turkish Airlines served its first First Class service to Jeddah and London. The period of 1987 – 1999 saw even more business expansion and service improvement from Turkish Airlines. By 1988, the airline had served four continents when it opened a route to New York. Other added routes included major world cities, such as New Delhi, Kuala Lumpur, Lyon, Helsinki, Tunisia, Algiers, Oslo, Basel, Tokyo, Bangkok, Moscow, Benghazi, Budapest, Bahrain, Strasbourg and many more. In 1989, Turkish Airlines's in-flight magazine was renamed as Skylife. Also in 1989, the company established an equal partnership with Lufthansa Airlines to develop SunExpress Airlines. Then, in 1998, the Turkish company signed a series of Block Space Agreement with other airlines, which included Austrian Airlines, Swissair, Croatia Airlines, and Japan Airlines. During its period of expansion and developments in 2000 – 2010, Turkish Airlines underwent a crisis and had to cut down its domestic flights. However, despite a major profit loss of TL 1.9 billion in the first half of 2016, the airline remains strong as one of Europe’s best airlines. The airline now operates a fleet of close to 340 aircraft and employs around 26,676 staff.