Turkish Airlines celebrates 90 years as the proud flagship carrier for Türkiye in a journey through time captured in its new film.
Turkish Airlines’ 90-year history began in 1933, with only five aircrafts and fewer than 30 employees. Today, the flagship carrier boasts a fleet of 418 aircrafts, travel routes to 344 international destinations, and has increased its workforce to 82,000 employees, with an increasing number of subsidiaries.
Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee Prof. Dr. Ahmet Bolat said: “Today, Turkish Airlines is one of the most valuable brands in our country and the World. What brought us to this day is our values and the support of our 82,000 employees on our journey. This film, which is a tribute to each of our building blocks, tells the story of our 90-year journey from a different perspective. We are also proud to accomplish something that we can be proud of on the 90th anniversary of Turkish Airlines and the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Türkiye.”
The film begins with Ghazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk signing the establishment document for Turkish Airlines, with an aircraft taking off in 1933 only to land in Istanbul in 2023 — much further than its intended destination. The captain, first bewildered and then proud, realizes that the teams they had envisioned years ago have been far exceeded by the success achieved in the aviation industry over the past 90 years.
The director of the film, produced by Tribal Worldwide Istanbul advertising agency, was Serdar Dönmez, while the cinematographer was Danish Kasper Wind. A life-size replica of the Curtiss Kingbird D2 model aircraft, one of the first official aircraft of Turkish Airlines, was built specially for this project. The replica, with a weight of approximately 1.7 tons, a wingspan of 17 meters, a length of 11 meters and a height of 4 meters, was completed in 2 months. Scenes of the replica aircraft in the sky were animated using CGI technology. The replica is aimed to be exhibited as a souvenir in Turkish Airlines headquarters’ yard.
