Turkish Airlines intends to expand its service to more destinations in the country, the company's general manager for Croatia, Ugur Cantimur, said in an interview on Friday, and added that they have no plans to acquire Croatia's flag carrier Croatia Airlines in spite of media speculations.

In an interview with Poslovni Dnevnik daily, Cantimur talked about the Turkish flag carrier’s plans in the region, as they celebrate 20 years since the airline first added Zagreb to its route map, currently operating 14 flights a week from the Croatian capital.

What is the presence of Turkish Airlines in this region, and how did those routes develop over time?

Turkish Airlines currently flies to every capital city in the region, including Belgrade, Sarajevo, Podgorica, Ljubljana… Generally speaking, before we decide to add new destinations to our list, our team of experts studies a lot of research about the market in question, and decides about expanding our network… This is the main strategy we use when expanding our network, and it was used when we decided to start our service to Zagreb and the wider region.

How did Turkish Airlines build its routes in Croatia, and do you have any plans to expand them further?

Twenty years ago we launched flights to Zagreb which flew twice a week, and today we have 14 flights per week. Two years ago we added year-round flights to Dubrovnik, with four flights per week. This summer we increased that to 11 flights per week. Our plan is to expand to more destinations in Croatia, connecting them with he world, which would attract even more tourists from all over the world.

Recently there was some media speculation that Turkish Airlines might be interested in acquiring the national flag carrier Croatia Airlines. Should that happen, how would such an acquisition fit into the company’s business plans?

The speculations you mentioned are not correct. We have a very professional partnership with Croatia Airlines, and we wish to maintain that partnership in the future.