“THY was named the best airline in Europe by Skytrax in late June. We [THY] have also won many runner-up awards in various areas but prefer not to mention these as we don't congratulate ourselves on coming in second. Our goal is to become the world's best airline in the near future,” Kotil told the Anatolia news agency.

In a poll where over 18.8 million airline passengers from 100 different nationalities voted, THY was awarded the “Best Airline Europe” prize by Skytrax, the world's largest airline review site, which recognized the quality of THY's in-cabin service and the range of locations THY flies to. THY also won the “World's Best Premium Economy Class Airline Seat” and the “Best Airline Southern Europe” awards. Commenting on the Skytrax award, the head of THY said it was very important to be named Europe's best airline since a large part of the company's revenues and passengers come from Europe, adding that the award will have a positive influence on their market share in the world aviation sector. “We have already started to show off our award in many commercials in Europe and on all of our planes. It would be very nice if we could increase our passenger numbers by 2-3 percent. I think THY can expect a 10 percent rise in its profits thanks to this award this year,” Kotil noted.

Kotil said Turkey's national air carrier has grown, on average, annually by 20 percent and that they have increased their number of destinations, in Turkey and globally, to 171. He added that the company was a 3-star airline in 2006 but became a 4.5-star one in 2009. “Now, our next goal is to become a 5-star aviation company. Step by step, we will become the world's best airline,” he said.

Moreover, Kotil mentioned that cabin personnel has increased from 1,700 to 5,500, while the number of pilots has risen to 2,200 from 640 over the last couple of years, making the total employees at THY close to 8,000. In addition, THY's daily flights consisted of just 400 in 2005, whereas it surpassed 1,000 this year. “Our new goal is to increase the number of daily flights to the 2,000 figure,” Kotil noted.

Based in İstanbul, THY has flights to more than 130 locations around the world and 41 domestic destinations. Since its founding in 1933, THY's fleet has increased and now has 164 aircraft, including five cargo planes.