US embassy cable - 03ANKARA2108

Disclaimer: This site has been first put up 15 years ago. Since then I would probably do a couple things differently, but because I've noticed this site had been linked from news outlets, PhD theses and peer rewieved papers and because I really hate the concept of "digital dark age" I've decided to put it back up. There's no chance it can produce any harm now.

DELTA SUSPENDS ISTANBUL-NEW YORK FLIGHTS, OTHER FLIGHTS TO U.S. PLENTIFUL

Identifier: 03ANKARA2108
Wikileaks: View 03ANKARA2108 at Wikileaks.org
Origin: Embassy Ankara
Created: 2003-03-31 13:41:00
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Tags: EAIR ASEC ATRN TU
Redacted: This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS ANKARA 002108 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
 
STATE FOR EUR/SE, EB, EB/TRA 
ROME FOR FAA JOYNER 
PARIS FOR TSA PRESAS 
FRANKFURT FOR TSA 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAIR, ASEC, ATRN, TU 
SUBJECT: DELTA SUSPENDS ISTANBUL-NEW YORK FLIGHTS, OTHER 
FLIGHTS TO U.S. PLENTIFUL 
 
REF: ANKARA 1203 
 
 
1. (SBU) Delta Airlines, which prior to the start of the Iraq 
operation ran four flights per week from Istanbul to New 
York, will suspended its Istanbul-New York flights for one 
month, from April 6 to May 2.  Delta's Istanbul Station 
Manager, Giray Salgirtay, told econoff the suspension was an 
economic decision in response to low passenger loads since 
the start of the war.  For example, he said, the March 31 
Istanbul-New York flight had only 80 passengers, with 110 
empty seats.  Salgirtay said Delta Headquarters would 
reassess the situation on April 23 to determine whether or 
not to resume flights in May. 
 
 
2. (SBU) Turkish Airlines (THY), on the other hand, has not 
yet cut any of its direct Istanbul-U.S. flights, which 
include flights 7 days per week to New York and 3 days per 
week to Chicago.  THY is, however, considering cutting the 
Istanbul-New York route to 4 days per week, based on 
decreased passenger loads since the start of the war. 
 
 
3. (SBU) Meanwhile, indirect flights from Turkey to the U.S. 
through Europe remain frequent and plentiful.  From Ankara, 
THY flies directly to Munich, Berlin, Koln, Copenhagen, 
Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and Vienna throughout the week.  From 
Istanbul, THY, Lufthansa, British Airways, Air France, Cross 
Air, and Iberian Airlines fly to Munich, Frankfurt, London, 
Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Brussels, Vienna, and Zurich almost 
daily (in some cases twice daily).  There is wide seat 
availability on most of these flights.  Lufthansa is 
reportedly planning to cut its twice-daily Istanbul-Frankfurt 
flight to once-daily, and British Airways may also cut some 
twice daily flights to once per day, in response to decreased 
passenger loads. 
PEARSON 

Latest source of this page is cablebrowser-2, released 2011-10-04