By Bosphorus News Economics Desk
Asian routes generated a larger share of Turkish Airlines revenue than European ones for the first time in the second quarter of 2026, and the airline spent this week reorganising itself around that shift.
Asia accounted for 32 percent of group revenue in the quarter, up five points, against 27 percent for Europe, chairman Murat Şeker told Nikkei Asia in an interview published on Thursday. Asia's share of total passenger traffic rose from 10 percent to 12 percent. Passenger traffic between Africa and Asia grew 70 percent, and between Eastern Europe and Asia 40 percent.
Şeker said the airline aims to raise frequencies in East Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania by 15 to 20 percent over the coming years as its wide-body fleet grows, with the goal of building a second corridor between Asia, Australia and Europe through Istanbul, in competition with the Gulf carriers that dominate those flows.
China is the immediate test. Turkish Airlines added 10 weekly flights this year to reach 42, with existing traffic rights permitting up to 49. Increases to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou were brought forward, Chengdu is due to launch in November and Urumqi is under consideration. In Japan the carrier flies 25 times a week and wants more, while new traffic rights in Singapore and Vietnam support further growth.
Longer term, the airline plans nonstop services to Sydney and Melbourne from 2028, supported by a premium economy cabin on long-haul routes that Şeker expects to contribute meaningfully to earnings. He also said Turkish Airlines is open to joint ventures with stakes of 30 to 50 percent in airline operations, cargo and maintenance across Asia and South America, noting the group is the world's third largest provider of maintenance, repair and overhaul services. Japanese investors already fund roughly 20 percent of the airline's aircraft leasing requirements, having financed more than 100 aircraft worth about 9 billion dollars over the past two decades.
The eastward shift is happening under real financial pressure, which the second-quarter results published on August 4 and 5 set out plainly.
Revenue rose 20.5 percent year on year to 7.205 billion dollars. Passenger revenue grew 14.9 percent to 5.675 billion dollars and cargo revenue jumped 58 percent to 1.267 billion dollars, while technical revenue fell 19 percent to 149 million dollars.
Profitability moved the other way. Net profit for the quarter fell 71.5 percent to 197 million dollars from 691 million a year earlier, cutting the net margin from 11.6 percent to 2.7 percent. EBITDAR dropped 41 percent to 906 million dollars, with the margin down from 25.7 percent to 12.6 percent. The airline recorded a 64 million dollar loss from core operations, against a 706 million dollar profit in the same quarter last year. Fuel expenses rose 93 percent.
For the first half, revenue reached 13.122 billion dollars, up 20.8 percent, and net profit fell 34.6 percent to 423 million dollars. The airline carried 44.5 million passengers, 5.5 percent more than a year earlier, at a load factor of 83.7 percent. In lira terms first-half net profit fell 25 percent to 18.864 billion lira, and the second-quarter figure of 8.949 billion lira came in well below an analyst consensus of roughly 11.9 billion.
Şeker attributed much of the pressure to geopolitics, saying four of the first six months were shaped by the United States-Iran war and that oil prices stayed high for most of that period. He put the additional cost from jet fuel prices in the first half at about 1.3 billion dollars. Nikkei Asia reported that the total cost of the conflicts, including their other effects, came to roughly 2.1 billion dollars. Şeker said the sector is not having an easy year in 2026, while pointing to the company's targets for 2033, its centenary.
The redeployment of capacity is a direct response. Narrow-body aircraft moved to routes in Central Asia, Africa and parts of Europe, while wide-body passenger and cargo aircraft went to Japan, China, Australia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam. That amounted to 58 additional weekly passenger frequencies and 61 cargo frequencies on high-demand routes. Being able to use Russian airspace shortens some east-west sectors.
Two network decisions this week fit the same pattern. On Friday the airline signed a codeshare agreement with flynas, the Saudi low-cost carrier and the first airline listed on the Tadawul exchange, which operates more than 2,000 weekly flights on 156 routes to over 80 destinations in 38 countries. The agreement is part of Riyadh's push under Vision 2030 to raise annual air passenger traffic to 330 million and connections to more than 250 international destinations by 2030. Separately, Istanbul to Havana flights will resume on October 25. Turkish Airlines suspended the route on March 30 because of the jet fuel shortage in Cuba and falling demand, then extended the suspension through late October. The Cuba business depends heavily on Russian tourists transiting Istanbul.
The commercial repositioning is now being matched inside the company. According to an internal notice reported by the aviation site Haber Aero, the executive committee approved organisational changes and more than 40 appointments on Friday. Ahmet İsmail Gülle was named technical president and Bilal Tek quality assurance president. Bosphorus News has not been able to verify the list through a second source, and Turkish Airlines does not file this category of appointment with the public disclosure platform.
The geography of the list is the notable part. Of roughly 28 overseas station managers replaced, the Asian and Gulf entries dominate: Singapore, Ulaanbaatar, Lahore, Islamabad, Tehran, Medina, Dammam, Bahrain, Kuwait and Muscat. Cargo sales were also rezoned, with the Eastern Europe directorate redrawn as Southern and Eastern Europe, and a new offer and order management directorate created under revenue management.
The reshuffle is the first of this scale since the change at the top. Ahmet Bolat, chairman since early 2022, and chief executive Bilal Ekşi both retired at the general assembly on April 9, alongside board member Mecit Eş and executive committee member Ramazan Sarı. Şeker, a former World Bank economist who ran finance, treasury and investor relations at the airline and has chaired the International Air Transport Association's financial advisory council since 2025, took the chair. Ahmet Olmuştur, previously deputy chief executive for commercial operations, became chief executive.
An airline that put a finance executive in charge in April is now redrawing its map around the region that pays best, in a year when fuel is eating the margin. Whether the second corridor materialises will depend less on ambition than on what oil does next.
Sources: Turkish Airlines investor presentation and public disclosure platform filings, Nikkei Asia, Bloomberg HT, Haber Aero, Bosphorus News review and reporting.