Turkey - Corona Virus: Is Turkey holding back on reporting corona cases ? Singapore sends Turkish Airlines flight home empty after a passenger tested positive for Corona Virus

 A Turkish Airlines aircraft was flown back to Istanbul with no passengers on board on Thursday on orders from Singapore authorities after a passenger who had arrived on the same plane on Tuesday tested positive for coronavirus.

The infected passenger was a French national traveling from London to Singapore, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, and the plane’s crew would be held in quarantine for 14 days as a precaution.

A Turkish aviation official told Reuters earlier that there were 143 passengers, three pilots and 10 crew members aboard the flight to Singapore. Last month, Nigeria said its first case of the virus entered the country on a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul, when a man traveling from Italy landed in Lagos.

“The passenger diagnosed with coronavirus in Singapore is a French citizen. The person was a transit passenger going from London to Singapore. Our plane returned without passengers. The crew will be protectively held in quarantine for 14 days,” Koca said on Twitter.

Singapore’s CAAS aviation regulator said that the pilots and crew of flight TK54 that arrived on Tuesday had been come into close contact with the passenger, but the aviation official said the crew tested negative for the virus in Singapore.

Turkish Airlines declined to comment. 

Read more at: Singapore sends Turkish Airlines flight home empty after coronavirus case - Reuters

Airlines In Turkey And Dubai Cleared From Laptop Ban - by Chris Benderev

Two airlines in the Middle East say they have been exempted from a 2-month-old ban on carrying large electronic devices aboard direct flights to the United States.

Emirates, the Middle East's largest long-haul airline, said in a statement Wednesday that the ban was lifted, "effective immediately," on Emirates' flights from Dubai International Airport to the U.S. Also on Wednesday, Turkish Airlines announced the ban was no longer in place for its travelers departing the Istanbul Ataturk Airport for American destinations.

U.S.-bound flights out of Etihad Airlines of Abu Dhabi International Airport were cleared Sunday. (Etihad is the only airline with direct flights to the U.S. out of Abu Dhabi International.)

The news suggests all three airports have met newly heightened standards by American security officials, according to the Associated Press.
Turkish airlines CEO Bilal Eksi tweeted Tuesday that he also believed a similar ban on large electronics on U.K.-bound flights would be lifted soon.

Read more: Airlines In Turkey And Dubai Cleared From Laptop Ban | Maine Public

European Aircraft Industry: Turkish Airlines considering acquiring Airbus A380 or Boeing 747-8 says chairman

Airbus A380 and Alpha Jets

Flag carrier Turkish Airlines is continuing feasibility work on acquiring either the Airbus A380 or Boeing 747-8, Chairman Hamdi Topcu said on Thursday.

Turkish Airlines, Europe's fourth-biggest airline, is also continuing talks with Germany's Lufthansa on whether the two companies can form "synergies," Topcu said in an interview with CNN Turk that was broadcast live.

Read more: Turkish Airlines considering acquiring Airbus A380 or Boeing 747-8, chairman says | Reuters

Airline Industry: Turkish airlines to buy 15 Airbus A330-300

Airbus A330=300

It was reported that Turkish Airlines has said it will buy 15 Airbus A330-300 planes between 2014-2016.

Analyst Saj Ahmad said: "Turkish Airlines is taking advantage of vacated delivery slots at Airbus for A330s where some customers have both deferred and cancelled existing orders at the plane maker. Add to the mix Turkish Airlines expanding fleet, the A330-300 provides a good solution for their medium haul, higher density routes that will eventually be serviced by either 787s or A350s when the airline finally decides to place an order.

"That they've not yet done so points to the fact that the A350 is going to be delayed even more than Airbus admits, and Boeing's existing 787 backlog is so large and deliveries are only starting to gain momentum, the availability of cheap A330s enables Airbus to maintain production rates without disrupting the expense attached to the supply chain if they had to cut rates, particularly as China refuses to take its A330s in the wake of the simmering row over emissions trading at the ETS scheme.
 
Read more: Arabian Aerospace - Turkish airlines to buy 15 Airbus A330-300

MSN News: Airline Industry: Turkish Airlines says it will buy 5 more Airbus jets

For the complete report from MSN News click on this link

Airline Industry: Turkish Airlines says it will buy 5 more Airbus jets

Turkish Airlines (THY) will buy three more A330 aircraft from European manufacturer Airbus, in addition to seven others ordered earlier this year, and two cargo planes, the company said Friday. The three passenger carriers, scheduled for delivery in 2012, were an optional clause in a June order for seven aircraft. THY has decided to go ahead with their purchase, according to a statement with the Istanbul stock exchange. THY will also buy two A330-200F cargo planes from Airbus, to be delivered in 2010 and 2011, the company said in a separate statement.