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Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Feb 14 2013
Turkish opposition criticizes airline's decision to scrap alcohol on
domestic flights
Turkish Airlines' (THY) controversial decision to remove alcohol from
the in-flight menus of several domestic flights was brought to the
attention of Parliament on Feb.14 when Republican People's Party (CHP)
deputy Chair Umut Oran submitted a parliamentary question on the
matter, targeting government officials.
Oran asked parliamentary members whether or not the airline had
received direct instructions to end alcohol service on the majority of
its domestic flights as well as flights to eight other countries from
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
THY previously cited a lack of demand and requests from passengers as
well as foreign country officials as the motive behind their decision
in a statement released Feb. 13.
Oran further questioned the timing of the decision, asking Parliament
why an issue of demand wasn't a problem in the company's previous 90
years.
"For a company that boasts being a world brand and advertises itself
as Europe's best, isn't rejecting even a single passenger's demand for
alcohol contradictory to its image as such?" Oran asked.
He also demanded information on procedures that had resulted in the
determination of which countries the ban would relate to.
CHP head Kemal Kilicdaroglu also voiced concern over the new direction
THY appeared to allegedly be moving in, criticizing the recent leak of
uniform designs during a guest appearance on a TV news program.
"Those designs hurt Turkey's image," Kilicdaroglu said. "i hope the
THY executives are not involved with such a thing. It is an
organization that is paid by my taxes and yours. So it is in fact an
organization of the people. It needs to listen to people's
criticisms."
Kilicdaroglu added that THY should be more open to inspections.
"Turkish Parliament used to have the authority to inspect THY," he
said. "There was a change in shares from 51 percent to 49 percent and
it was then placed out of any inspection."
Meanwhile, Armenian weekly Agos is set to be included in publications
offered complimentary to THY passengers at Ataturk Airport. Agos' deal
with the airline will soon extend to on-flight publications for
international flights.
Feb 14 2013
Turkish opposition criticizes airline's decision to scrap alcohol on
domestic flights
Turkish Airlines' (THY) controversial decision to remove alcohol from
the in-flight menus of several domestic flights was brought to the
attention of Parliament on Feb.14 when Republican People's Party (CHP)
deputy Chair Umut Oran submitted a parliamentary question on the
matter, targeting government officials.
Oran asked parliamentary members whether or not the airline had
received direct instructions to end alcohol service on the majority of
its domestic flights as well as flights to eight other countries from
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
THY previously cited a lack of demand and requests from passengers as
well as foreign country officials as the motive behind their decision
in a statement released Feb. 13.
Oran further questioned the timing of the decision, asking Parliament
why an issue of demand wasn't a problem in the company's previous 90
years.
"For a company that boasts being a world brand and advertises itself
as Europe's best, isn't rejecting even a single passenger's demand for
alcohol contradictory to its image as such?" Oran asked.
He also demanded information on procedures that had resulted in the
determination of which countries the ban would relate to.
CHP head Kemal Kilicdaroglu also voiced concern over the new direction
THY appeared to allegedly be moving in, criticizing the recent leak of
uniform designs during a guest appearance on a TV news program.
"Those designs hurt Turkey's image," Kilicdaroglu said. "i hope the
THY executives are not involved with such a thing. It is an
organization that is paid by my taxes and yours. So it is in fact an
organization of the people. It needs to listen to people's
criticisms."
Kilicdaroglu added that THY should be more open to inspections.
"Turkish Parliament used to have the authority to inspect THY," he
said. "There was a change in shares from 51 percent to 49 percent and
it was then placed out of any inspection."
Meanwhile, Armenian weekly Agos is set to be included in publications
offered complimentary to THY passengers at Ataturk Airport. Agos' deal
with the airline will soon extend to on-flight publications for
international flights.