Turkish Airlines confirms interest in Jat Airways

Belgrade, May, 21. 2010 (Serbia Today) – Company Turkish Airlines has expressed interest in buying Polish LOT and Serbian Jat Airways. According to Director Temel Kotil the company, which is 49% owned by the state is not interested in other companies in Eastern Europe other than LOT and Jat, and Turkish Airlines is negotiating with both. “We are only interested in LOT in Central Europe because it fits into our business model of creating the first European five-star air travel company,” he said for Polish daily Rzeczpospolita. “We have partner relations with Lufthansa and we have a portion of BH Airlines and in Austrian DO & CO Restaurants, and everything is developing according to our plans,” he said.  He said that Turkish Airlines will be getting new aircrafts and that it plans on employing about 1,500 people this year, while most other companies are saving money and cutting flights and workers because of the crisis. Turkish Airlines is introducing 17 new destinations with the ambition to become the third most significant air travel company in Europe after Lufthansa and Air France-KLF.