ISTANBUL - Civil Aviation Director General Topa Bilgettin Toker said on Monday that Turkey had an important air traffic in the axis of Europe-Asia-Caucasus and the Middle East with its nearly two-hour air corridor binding Europe to Asia.
''International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Technical Cooperation Seminar'' hosted by the Ministry of Transportation started at Istanbul's Radisson SAS Hotel.
Addressing the seminar, Toker said that 13 airlines companies which were given licenses by the Civil Aviation Directorate General in Turkey had the capacity of 27,423 seats and those companies had 142 planes.
Toker noted that airlines companies in Turkish private sector had 78 planes and Turkish Airlines (THY) had 64 planes and stated that Turkey had bilateral aviation agreements with 82 countries. Toker added that THY had scheduled flights to 78 countries.
Stating that aviation in Turkey also played an important role in cultural activities, improvement of international trade and tourism sector like in other countries, Toker added that countries should gather their sources and implement standards and orders of the ICAO to reach a common goal.
ICAO President Assad Kotaite said that terrorist activities, Iraq war, SARS and stagnation in global economies affected negatively aviation sector.
Kotaite said that the main goal of ICAO was to settle flight security and stated that they inspected 20 states this year and they aimed to inspect 40 states next year.
(EÖ-AÖ) 27.10.2003