Airline shifts focus to Africa flights

In an effort to its boost market share, Turkish Airlines is building its transfer business, in which passengers from China can change planes in Istanbul, a company executive said.

The Istanbul-based company has been tailoring travel routes to Africa in a bid to woo Chinese tourists, said Ma Lin, sales manager of Turkish Airlines China.

The shift in sales strategy comes after Turkish tourism was hit hard as the country experienced terrorist attacks and political turbulence in the first half of the year, Ma said.

"It has exerted some impact on the business in China, but it is manageable," Ma said.

The company has started recommending African countries, such as Tunisia and Morocco, as destinations. Chinese passengers flying to Africa with Turkish Airlines can reach 48 destinations in 27 countries.

The airline's seat occupancy, according to Ma, was 85 percent in September, higher than the industry average, and the passenger base was solid, fueled by the outbound travel frenzy during China's seven-day National Day (Oct 1-7) holiday.

Ma said sales in October and November in China are expected to be stable.

Tourism in African countries has plenty of room for growth, compared with that in mature markets like Southeast Asia, Europe, Japan and South Korea, said Romeo Tai, North China representative at travel agency Comfort Travel and Investment Services,

Tai said the number of Chinese traveling to South Africa would increase significantly in the fourth quarter.

jingshuiyu@chinadaily.com.cn